HOME  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
OF  MODERN  KNOWLEDGE 

No.  39 

Editors: 

HERBERT    FISHER,  M.A.,  F.B.A. 
PROF.   GILBERT  MURRAY,  LiTT.D., 

LL.D.,  F.B.A. 

PROF.  J.  ARTHUR    THOMSON,  M.A. 
PROF.  WILLIAM  T.  BREWSTER,  M.A. 


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HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY. 

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THE  DAWST  OF  HISTORY  .   .   .  By  J.  L.  MYRES 

ROME Ey  W.  WARDE  FOWLEK 

THE    PAPACY    AND     MODERN 

TIMES By  WILLIAM  BARRY 

MEDIEVAL  EUROPE '  By  H.  W.  C.  DAVIS 

THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION    .  By  HILAIRE  BELLOC. 
THE   IRISH   NATIONALITY    .    .   By  MRS.  J.  R.  GREEN 

CANADA By  A.  G.  BRADLEY 

THE    CIVIL    WAR By  FREDERIC  L/TAXSON 

RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

(1865-1912) By  PAUL  L.  HA  WORTH 

HISTORY  OF  OUR  TIME   (i885- 

1911) ByC.  P.  GOOCH 

POLAR      EXPLORATION      (with 

maps) By     W.  S.  BRUCE 

THE  OPENING  UP  OF  AFRICA  By  SIR  H.  H.  JOHNSTOK 
THE  CIVILIZATION  OF  CHINA  By  H.  A.  GILES 
PEOPLES   AND   PROBLEMS    OF 

INDIA By  SIR  T.  W.  HOLDERNESS 

A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF    WAR 

AND   PEACE ByG.  H.  FERRIS 

MODERN  GEOGRAPHY By  MARION  NEWBIGIN 

Future  Issues 

A  SHO&T  HISTORY  CF  EUROPE  By  HERBERT  FISHER 

ANCIENT  GREECE By  GILBERT  MURRAY 

THE     REFORMATION By  PRINCIPAL  LINDSAY 

A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA  By  PROF.  MILYOUKOV 

FRANCE  OF  TO-DAY By  GABRIEL  MONOD 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  CITIES  .   By  PATRICK  GEDDES 

ANCIENT    EGYPT By  F.  L.  GRIFFITH 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD  ...  By  CHARLES  M.  ANDREWS 
FROM  JEFFERSON  TO  LINCOLN  By  WILLIAM  MACDONALD 
LATIN  AMERICA By  W.  R.  SHEPHERD 


RECONSTRUCTION 
AND  UNION 

1865-1912 


BY 

PAUL  LELAND  HAWORTH,  PH.D. 

AUTHOR  OF   "THE  HAYES-TILDEN    ELECTION,"    "THE    PATH 
OF  GLORY,"   ETC.      COLLABORATOR  ON   "  A  HISTORY 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  ITS  PEOPLE" 

SOMETIME  LECTURER  IN  HISTORY,   COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 
AND  BRYN   MAWR  COLLEGE 


NEW   YORK 
HENRY   HOLT  AND   COMPANY 

LONDON 
WILLIAMS   AND   NORGATE 


, 


COPYRIGHT,  1912, 

BY 
HENRY    HOLT  AND    COMPANY 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS,   CAMBRIDGE,    U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I    THE  PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  or  RECONSTRUCTION  .  7 

II    THE  CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  or  RECONSTRUCTION  20 

III  CARPET-BAGGERS  AND  KU-KLUX-KLANS    ...  40 

IV  THE  END  OF  AN  ERA 56 

V    HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR 86- 

VI     BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK 120 

VII    THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN 175 

VIII    THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    ....  195 

IX    THE  REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY      ....  210 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 249 

INDEX ,  253 


251148 


RECONSTRUCTION  AND 
UNION 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   PRESIDENTIAL   PLAN   OF  RECONSTRUCTION 

THE  weeks  following  the  surrender  of  Lee  at 
Appomattox  (April  9,  1865)  justified  General 
Sherman's  declaration  that  the  South  was  "an 
empty  shell."  The  Confederacy  collapsed  even 
more  rapidly  than  it  had  arisen.  The  war-worn 
veterans  in  gray,  weakened  by  want  and  wounds, 
scattered  heavy-hearted  to  their  desolated  homes, 
and  before  the  end  of  May  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
once  more  swung  to  every  breeze  from  the  Poto 
mac  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  war  was  over.  A  revolt  begun  to  per 
petuate  slavery  and  state  rights  had  ended  in  a 
revolution  that  had  extinguished  both.  The 
sword  could  be  sheathed,  but  there  remained 
the  two  great  problems  of  the  status  of  the  se 
ceded  states  and  the  status  of  the  freedmen. 
Both  problems  pressed  hard  for  solution,  but  the 
latter  was  infinitely  the  more  difficult.  Regarding 
the  former  there  were  many  theories,  but  all 
men  were  at  least  ready  to  agree  with  Lincoln 
that  the  seceded  states  were  "out  of  their  proper 
7 


• 


8        RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

practical  relation  with  the  Union."  To  restore 
that  practical  relation  would  at  most  be  hardly 
more  than  a  matter  of  a  few  years,  whereas  the 
presence  in  the  Republic  of  three  and  a  half 
million  ignorant  black  freedmen  was  certain  to 
entail  embarrassment  for  generations.  So  sudden 
a  transition  from  slavery  to  freedom  would 
mean  a  tremendous  shock  to  the  social  fabric 
even  in  times  of  peace.  No  country  could  expe 
rience  such  a  complete  overturn  in  times  of  war 
and  hope  to  settle  down  to  immediate  quiet. 

While  the  war  continued  the  negroes  in  sections 
remote  from  the  clash  of  arms  remained  quietly 
upon  the  plantations  obedient  to  their  masters. 
Even  the  news  of  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion  did  not  produce  a  single  insurrection.  "A 
thousand  torches,"  said  Henry  Grady,  "would 
have  disbanded  the  Southern  Army,  but  here 
was  not  one."  Nevertheless,  the  slaves  vaguely 
understood  the  purport  of  the  great  struggle; 
and  when  fugitive  Union  prisoners  came  their 
way,  they  lent  them  assistance.  They  wel 
comed  the  Northern  troops  as  deliverers.  On 
Sherman's  march  to  the  sea  the  spokesman  of 
a  large  number  of  slaves  said  to  an  aide-de-camp : 
"I'se  hope  de  Lord  will  prosper  you  Yankees 
>  and  Mr.  Sherman,  because  I  tinks  and  we  all 
tinks  dat  you'se  down  here  in  our  interests." 
Thousands  of  slaves  fell  in  behind  the  victorious 
army  as  it  swept  through  the  land,  being  "se 
duced  from  their  allegiance,"  as  a  South  Caro 
linian  complained,  by  the  prospect  of  freedom. 

With  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy,  many 
negroes  became  intoxicated  with  the  idea  that 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  9 

they  were  their  own  masters.  Some  were  con 
tent  to  remain  as  renters  or  employes  upon  the 
plantations  of  their  former  masters,  but  great 
numbers,  desirous  of  tasting  their  liberty,  aban 
doned  their  old  homes  and  wandered  hither  and 
thither  about  the  country,  "found  endless  de 
light  in  hanging  about  the  towns  and  Union 
camps,  and  were  fascinated  by  the  pursuit  of 
the  white  man's  culture  in  the  schools  which 
optimistic  northern  philanthropy  was  estab 
lishing."  "What  did  you  leave  the  old  place  for, 
Auntie?"  a  Northerner  asked  an  old  negress  who 
had  been  an  indulged  favorite  in  her  master's 
family.  "What  fur?  'Joy  my  freedom!'9  was 
her  ready  answer.  Tojmany  freedmen  freedom 
meant  primarily  idlenesspand^some^were  sadly 
disillusioned  when  informed  that  they  would 
still  have  to  work  for  a  living. 

In  some  respects  the  condition  of  the  freedmen \ 
was  pathetic.  In  the  words  of  Frederick  Douglass, 
the  government  had  made  the  negro  free,  "yet 
he  had  none  of  the  conditions  of  self-preserva 
tion  or  self-protection.  He  was  free  from  the 
individual  master,  but  the  slave  of  society.  He 
had  neither  money,  property,  nor  friends.  He 
was  free  from  the  old  plantation,  but  he  had 
nothing  but  the  dusty  road  under  his  feet.  He 
was  free  from  the  old  quarter  that  once  gave  him 
shelter,  but  a  slave  to  the  rains  of  summer  and  to 
the  frosts  of  winter.  He  .  .  .  was  turned  loose, 
naked,  hungry,  and  destitute  to  the  open  sky." 

The  idea  spread  abroad  that  the  government 
would  confiscate  the  property  of  ex-Confederates, 
and  every  negro  dreamed  at  night  of  the  "forty 


10      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

acres  and  a  mule"  which  was  to  be  his  share.  In 
some  sections  sharpers  took  advantage  of  the 
illusion  and  reaped  a  rich  harvest  by  selling  to 
simple-minded  negroes  the  painted  stakes  with 
which  each  must  be  provided  when  the  day  of 
division  came.  Sometimes  the  pegs  were  called 
"pre-emption  rights,"  and  their  sale  in  the  back 
districts  continued  for  years.  One  pretended 
deed  was  in  part  as  follows:  "Know  all  men  by 
these  presents,  that  a  nought  is  a  nought  and  a 
figure  is  a  figure;  all  for  the  white  man  and  none 
for  the  nigure.  And  whereas  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  so  also  have  I  lifted 
this  d — d  old  nigger  out  of  four  dollars  and  six 
bits.  Amen!  Selah!" 

To  act  as  a  guardian  for  the  blacks  the  thirty- 
eighth  congress,  just  before  dissolution,  had 
created  an  institution  known  as  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  which  was  to  endure  until  one  year  after 
the  end  of  the  war.  One  of  its  most  important 
functions  was  to  act  as  a  buffer  between  the 
two  races.  The  necessity  of  some  such  institu 
tion  was  obvious,  but  the  agents  of  the  Bureau 
were  naturally  highly  unpopular  in  the  South. 
Some  of  them  were  lacking  in  tact  and  character, 
some  were  unprincipled  rascals,  but  a  majority 
were  well-meaning  men  who  did  work  that  needed 
to  be  done.  Even  had  all  been  Solomons  in 
wisdom  and  judgment,  they  would  not  have  found 
much  favor  among  the  former  masters. 

Among  the  whites  themselves  despondency 
and  despair  reigned  well-nigh  supreme.  Their 
political  aspirations  had  been  defeated,  their 
social  system  swept  away,  and  many  were  finan- 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  11 

cially  ruined.  In  sections  through  which  the 
trail  of  war  had  led,  houses,  bridges,  barns,  and 
gins  had  been  burned;  everywhere  the  neglected 
roads  were  almost  impassable,  fences  were  rotting 
down,  levees  no  longer  restrained  the  floods,  and 
Confederate  currency  and  bonds  were  reduced 
to  less  than  the  value  of  the  paper  on  which  they 
were  printed.  Hatred  of  Yankees  and  Southern 
Unionists  prevailed,  being  manifested  even  in 
churches,  where  congregations  refused  to  listen 
to  loyal  preachers.  Women  were  especially 
bitter  against  those  whom  they  considered  the 
authors  of  all  their  woes,  and  over  Southern 
society,  as  over  every  other,  woman  reigned 
supreme.  For  a  time  the  calamity  struck  the 
whole  South  dumb,  but  presently  boisterous 
demagogues  and  reckless  editors  recovered  some 
thing  of  their  equanimity  and  gave  vent  to  in 
cautious  utterances  that  were  distasteful  to  the 
conquerors  and  too  often  drowned  the  voices  of 
those  striving  to  soften  bitter  feelings  and  tra 
ditional  antipathies.  The  delusion  which  the 
Southern  people  had  long  indulged  regarding 
"the  absolute  superiority"  of  their  customs  and 
social  organization,  though  shaken,  still  persisted, 
and  stood  "as  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
progress." 

The  gravity 'of  the  situation  was  greatly  in 
creased  by  the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  Follow 
ing  the  surrender  of  Lee  and  before  Booth's 
fatal  shot  a  magnanimous  spirit  prevailed  in  the 
North.  "On  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men" 
was  the  generous  sentiment  of  the  mass  of  loyal 
people.  The  murder  of  the  beloved  president 


12      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

changed  everything.  It  was  almost  universally, 
though  wrongly,  believed  that  the  assassination 
had  been  planned  by  the  leading  Confederates 
in  a  desperate  effort  to  avert  their  doom.  Gen 
erous  sentiments  gave  way  to  a  desire  for  ven 
geance;  everywhere  a  demand  arose  that  the 
"chief  Rebels"  should  be  hanged.  Men  believed 
that  to  the  crime  of  a  great  war  to  destroy  the 
Union  the  South  had  added  one  of  the  most 
dastardly  murders  in  history.  Even  those  who 
thought  the  Southern  leaders  incapable  of  insti 
gating  such  an  act  could  not  but  reflect  that  the 
assassination  flowed  from  the  spirit  of  slavery 
and  secession. 

\  The  death  of  Lincoln  not  only  roused  a  danger- 
bus  desire  for  vengeance,  but  it  also  deprived  the 
country  of  the  services  of  its  ablest  pilot.  Whether, 
with  all  his  sagacity  and  tact,  he  could  have 
solved  all  the  trying  problems  of  Reconstruction 
may  well  be  doubted,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  he 
would  have  done  better  than  the  man  who  suc 
ceeded  him.  For  if  the  country  had  been  searched 
from  end  to  end,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
find  a  man  less  fitted  for  the  crisis. 

Andrew  Johnson  was  born  at  Raleigh,  North 
Carolina,  of  poor  white  parents,  and  during  his 
early  years  his  opportunities  for  culture  were  so 
few  that,  although  he  managed  to  learn  to  read 
a  little,  the  art  of  writing  was  one  that  he  ac 
quired  in  manhood  from  his  wife.  At  the  age  of 
ten  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  tailor,  and  at  seven 
teen  removed  to  Greenville  in  East  Tennessee, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade,  and  presently 
became  a  Democratic  political  leader  in  opposi- 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  13 

tion  to  the  Whig  aristocracy.  He  was  succes 
sively  alderman,  mayor,  member  of  the  legis 
lature,  and  in  1843  became  a  member  of  the 
national  house  of  representatives.  Subsequently 
he  was  twice  elected  governor  of  Tennessee,  and 
in  1857  was  sent  to  the  Federal  senate,  "being 
a  remarkable  if  not  the  sole  exception  to  the  cus 
tom  in  the  slave  States  which  debarred  men  who 
worked  at  a  trade  from  such  high  office."  Al 
though  he  had  done  much  by  reading  and  by 
contact  with  men  to  remedy  the  defects  of  his 
education,  he  remained  narrow-minded  and 
uncultured.  By  vigorously  opposing  secession 
he  gained  high  favor  in  the  North  and  was  ap 
pointed  governor  of  Tennessee,  an  office  he  filled 
with  much  zeal  and  courage.  In  1864,  as  a  result 
of  the  desire  to  recognize  the  "War  Demo 
crats"  and  the  Southern  Unionists,  he  was 
nominated  for  the  vice-presidency  by  the  Union 
party  and  was  elected.  Some  persons  were 
inclined  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  selection, 
and  the  doubt  received  confirmation  at  his  inau 
guration.  On  that  occasion  he  was  so  badly 
intoxicated  that  he  presented  a  maudlin  spec 
tacle  which  has  usually  been  glossed  over  by 
historians. 

Johnson's  policy  toward  the  South  at  first 
gave  promise  of  being  a  vindictive  one.  "Trea 
son  must  be  made  odious,  and  traitors  must  be 
punished  and  impoverished,"  had  been  the  burden 
of  his  speeches.  In  private  talks  he  gave  the 
impression  that  he  was  about  to  embark  upon  a 
bloodthirsty  crusade  against  the  leaders  of  the 
"slavocracy,"  whom  he  had  once  called  our 


14      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

"illegitimate,  swaggering,  bastard,  scrub  aris 
tocracy."  He  issued  a  proclamation  charging 
Jefferson  Davis  and  other  Southern  leaders  with 
complicity  in  the  murder  of  Lincoln  and  offering 
large  rewards  for  their  arrest.  Radical  Republi 
cans  who  had  disapproved  of  Lincoln's  leniency 
were  much  pleased  with  Johnson's  attitude,  and 
some  were  inclined  to  consider  Lincoln's  removal 
a  dispensation  of  Providence.  But  even  the 
Radicals  feared  that  Johnson  might  be  too 
rigorous. 

Their  concern  was  wasted  worry.  Johnson 
had  been  in  office  only  a  few  weeks  when  he  turned 
a  complete  political  somersault  and  adopted  a 
Southern  policy  in  the  main  in  accord  with  the 
rather  vague  lines  laid  down  by  Lincoln.  On  the 
29th  of  May,  1865,  he  issued  two  proclamations, 
one  of  restricted  amnesty  and  the  other  a  pre 
scription  for  the  reconstruction  of  North  Caro 
lina.  The  first  granted  pardon  to  all  those  who 
had  "participated  in  the  existing  rebellion" 
except  those  belonging  to  certain  specified  classes, 
members  of  which  might  subsequently  obtain 
clemency  by  special  application  to  the  president. 
The  second  proclamation  appointed  William  W. 
Holden  provisional  governor  of  North  Carolina 
and  provided  for  the  calling  of  a  constitutional 
convention  to  frame  a  constitution  in  accord 
with  the  times.  The  members  of  this  convention 
were  to  be  elected  by  the  loyal  voters  of  the  stat ;, 
the  test  for  loyalty  being  the  taking  of  an  oaj  h. 
prescribed  in  the  amnesty  proclamation.  £'o 
extension  of  political  rights  to  the  freedmen  w;iS 
made.  At  intervals  from  June  13  to  July  13, 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  15 

similar  proclamations  were  issued  looking  to  the 
restoration  of  civil  government  in  Georgia, 
Texas,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida. 
The  "rump"  Union  government  in  Virginia,  the 
"ten  per  cent"  governments  of  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana,  and  the  government  of  Tennessee, 
which  Johnson  had  himself  helped  to  organize, 
were  also  formally  or  tacitly  recognized. 

The  plan  thus  adopted  was  unsatisfactory  to 
many  Radicals,  but  until  congress  should  convene 
in  December  there  could  be  no  effective  opposi 
tion.  In  the  meantime  the  South  had  a  great 
opportunity.  As  yet  the  great  majority  of 
Northerners  were  opposed  to  negro  suffrage,  but 
an  active  minority  of  earnest  advocates  were 
working  for  it,  and  reactionary  steps  on  the  part 
of  the  South  would  undoubtedly  strengthen  the 
movement,  v  Unhappily  the  people  of  the  South 
did  not  understand  the  true  situation.  They 
failed  to  realize  fully  that  they  were  a  conquered 
people  and  that  wisdom  dictated  that  in  all  their 
acts  they  should  be  guided  not  only  by  ordinary 
rules  but  also  by  the  prejudices  of  the  conquerors. 

The  first  convention  to  assemble  in  obedience 
to  the  president's  proclamations  w^as  that  of 
Mississippi.  It  voted  that  slavery  should  no 
longer  exist  in  the  state  and  declared  the  seces 
sion  ordinance  null  and  void,  but  failed  to  com 
ply  with  a  recommendation  from  Johnson  that 
the  elective  franchise  should  be  conferred  upon 
negroes  who  could  read  and  write  or  who  owned 
real  estate  worth  not  less  than  $250.  In  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina  the  old  states  rights  idea 
flickered  feebly  once  more  when  the  conventions 


16      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

- 

repealed  their  secession  ordinances.  Florida 
annulled  her  ordinance,  and  the  others,  like 
Mississippi,  proclaimed  the  acts  null  and  void, 
North  Carolina  declaring  that  her  ordinance 
"at  all  times  hath  been  null  and  void."  All  the 
conventions  except  that  of  South  Carolina  re 
pudiated  the  debts  contracted  in  support  of  the 
war,  but  in  some  states  this  was  done  only  after 
a  hard  struggle  and  after  pressure  had  been  exerted 
from  the  outside.  All  formally  abolished  slavery 
and  made  such  further  modifications  in  the  old 
state  constitutions  as  seemed  essential.  The 
conventions  then  adjourned,  leaving  to  the 
legislatures  the  task  of  completing  the  social 
reorganization. 

The  proceedings  of  the  conventions  were  not 
always  pleasing  to  exacting  Northerners;  those 
of  the  legislatures  were  still  less  so.  The  legis 
lature  of  Mississippi  refused  to  ratify  the  Thir 
teenth  Amendment  abolishing  slavery,  and  this 
and  other  legislatures  passed  acts  concerning 
the  freedmen  that  were  interpreted  in  the  North 
as  designed  to  secup  the  substance  of  slavery 
without  the  name.  //These  "black  codes"  were 
in  part  an  honest  effort  to  meet  a  difficult  situa 
tion,  but  the  old  slavery  attitude  toward  the 
negro  peered  through  most  of  them  and  gave  proof 
that  their  framers  did  not  yet  realize  that  the 
old  order  had  passed  away.  In  Mississippi  a 
f reedman  was  forbidden  to  own  or  rent  land  except 
in  incorporated  towns,  of  which  the  number  was 
small.  Negro  children  under  eighteen  whose 
parents  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  support  them 
were  to  be  "apprenticed,"  preferably  to  their 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  17 

former  masters,  who  were  empowered  to  inflict 
"moderate  corporal  chastisement."  All  negroes 
over  eighteen  found  on  the  second  Monday  of 
January,  1866,  without  employment  or  business 
were  to  be  fined,  and,  if  unable  to  pay,  were  to  be 
hired  out.  Any  laborer  who  should  quit  the 
service  of  an  employer  before  the  expiration  of 
his  contract  was  liable  to  arrest  and  forfeited  his 
wages.  In  South  Carolina  no  person  of  color 
was  to  engage  in  any  trade  or  business  "besides 
that  of  husbandry,  or  that  of  a  servant  under 
contract  for  labor,"  until  he  had  obtained  a 
practically  prohibitive  license  costing  from  ten 
to  a  hundred  dollars.  No  such  fees  were  exacted 
from  white  men.  Laws  almost  or  quite  as  unfair 
were  enacted  in  other  states.  The  words  "mas 
ter,"  "mistress,"  "servant"  constantly  recur 
in  such  legislation,  and  minute  regulations  were 
provided  for  such  "servants."  Special  penalties 
were  enacted  for  freedmen,  and  in  some  states 
the  blacks  were  forbidden  to  have  arms  of  any 
sort  or  even  to  assemble  together  except  under 
careful  restrictions.  The  "black  codes"  have 
had  apologists,  but  the  existence  four  decades 
later  of  "peonage"  in  numerous  Southern  com 
munities — a  practice  broken  up  only  through  the 
activity  of  Federal  officers  and  Federal  courts — 
is  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  assertion  that  under 
such  laws  the  freedmen  would  have  received  fair 
treatment. 

The  "black  codes"  naturally  roused  violent 
opposition  in  the  North.  "We  tell  the  men  of 
Mississippi,"  said  the  Chicago  Tribune  (Decem 
ber  1,  1865),  "that  the  men  of  the  North  will 


18      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

convert  the  state  of  Mississippi  into  a  frog-pond 
before  they  will  allow  any  such  laws  to  disgrace 
one  foot  of  soil  in  which  the  bones  of  our  soldiers 
sleep  and  over  which  the  flag  of  freedom  waves." 

Stories  of  hostility  to  Union  men  in  the  South 
and  of  the  mistreatment  of  freedmen  by  Individ 
uals  added  fuel  to  the  flames.  The  fact  that  as 
time  passed  an  increasing  number  of  persons 
who  had  been  prominent  in  the  military  or  civil 
service  of  the  Confederacy  were  elected  to  high 
office  did  not  increase  the  popularity  of  the 
president's  policy.  In  a  telegram  protesting 
against  the  proposed  choice  as  United  States 
senator  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  recently 
vice-president  of  the  Confederacy,  even  Johnson 
said:  "There  seems  in  many  of  the  elections 
something  like  defiance,  which  is  all  out  of  place 
at  this  time."  The  protest  went  unheeded,  and 
presently  Stephens  appeared  in  Washington  to 
demand  his  seat.  "In  his  astonishing  effrontery," 
says  Elaine,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the 
house,  "Mr.  Stephens  even  went  so  far  as  to 
insist  on  interpreting  to  the  loyal  men,  who  had 
been  conducting  the  government  of  the  United 
States  through  all  its  perils,  the  Constitution 
under  which  they  had  been  acting." 

There  was  yet  another  motive  that  doubtless 
caused  many  politicians  to  oppose  the  president's 
reconstruction  plan.  It  was  evident  that  with 
the  freeing  of  the  slaves  the  constitutional  pro 
vision  excluding  two-fifths  of  them  in  the  appor 
tionment  of  representatives  to  congress  became 
of  no  effect  and  that  the  former  slave  states  would 
be  entitled  to  more  members.  That  one  result 


PRESIDENTIAL  PLAN  19 

of  the  war  should  be  an  increase  in  the  political 
power  of  the  South  was  a  possibility  little  relished 
by  those  who  were  convinced  that  upon  the  con 
tinuance  in  power  of  the  Republican  party  hinged 
the  nation's  well-being  and  their  own  political 
fortunes.  The  specter  of  the  Federal  government 
in  control  of  an  alliance  between  ex-Confederates 
and  Northern  Democrats  troubled  the  sleep  of 
many  a  Republican  statesman,  and  in  the  end 
was  one  of  the  chief  influences  that  brought  about 
the  bestowal  of  the  suffrage  upon  the  blacks. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   CONGRESSIONAL   PLAN   OF 
i  EECONSTRUCTION 

REPUBLICAN  conventions  in  Massachusetts 
and  Pennsylvania  had  already  condemned  the 
president's  policy,  and  the  Republican  leaders, 
when  they  gathered  in  Washington  for  the  first 
session  of  the  thirty-ninth  congress,  determined  to 
insist  upon  the  right  of  that  body  to  participate 
in  Reconstruction.  Acting  under  their  influence, 
the  clerk  of  the  house  omitted  the  names  of  mem 
bers-elect  from  the  states  recently  in  rebellion, 
and  the  Republican  majority  promptly  sustained 
him.  As  soon  as  the  organization  of  the  house 
was.'completed,  Thaddeus  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania 
moved  the  appointment  of  a  joint  committee  of 
nine  representatives  and  six  senators  to  inquire 
into  conditions  in  the  former  Confederate  states 
"and  report  whether  they  or  any  of  them  are 
entitled  to  be  represented  in  either  House  of 
Congress."  The  resolution  was  quickly  adopted, 
though  there  were  some  members  who  intimated 
that  it  would  be  more  proper  to  await  the  presi 
dent's  message  before  taking  action.  This  mes 
sage,  which  was  read  the  following  day,  was  a 
sane,  well-written  document  which  explained 

20 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  21 

with  force  the  president's  Reconstruction  policy. 
To  many  it  was  an  enigma  how  a  man  with  so 
little  education  could  have  produced  such  a  state 
paper,  but  it  is  now  known  that  the  document 
was  composed  by  the  historian  Bancroft.  In 
congress  the  message  had  little  appreciable  effect; 
a  few  days  later  the  senate  concurred  with  the 
house  in  the  appointment  of  Stevens's  Joint 
Committee  on  Reconstruction. 

Among  the  congressional  majority  there  was 
great  diversity  of  sentiment,  but  the  course  of 
events  tended  to  bring  the  extremists  to  the  front. 
Of  these  the  chief  were  Charles  Sumner  and  Thad- 
deus  Stevens.  Sumner,  the  Brahmin  senator 
from  Massachusetts,  an  idealist  for  human  equal 
ity,  in  theory  but  a  snobTn  priv^le~pracfice7TiaH 
long  been  distinguished  as  an  opponent  of  the 
slave  power,  and  was  anxious  to  crown  his  work 
by  .erasing  all  legal  distinctions  Between  the 
freedmen  and  their  former  masters.  i  In  his  view 
the  attempts  at  secession  were  inoperative  and 
void,  but  amounted  to  "a  practical  abdication 
by  the  State  of  all  rights  under  the  Constitution  " 
— in  other  words,  to  state-^uicide.  He  held  that 
such  states  were  now  under  "the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  Congress  as  other  territory."  As 
a  condition  to  their  restoration  he  proposed  the 
imposition  upon  the  late  Confederate  states  oflfull 
civil  and  political  rights  to  the  negro. 

Thaddeus  StgvejlS  of  Pennsylvania,  the  leader 
of  the  house,  possessed  much  of  the  sternness  of 
the  old  Puritans,  without  their  morality.  Unlike 
Sumner,  hpjiat-^  SmiiHgrnprg  personally,  and 
his  hatred  hadbeen  rendered  more  vindictive 


22      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

by  private  losses  sustained  in  the  burning  of 
Chambersburg  by  the  Confederates.  Although 
a  lame  old  man  of  seventy-three,  his  spirit  was 
dauntless,  and  during  the  next  few  years,  with  iron 
resolution,  he  held  the  house  to  his  policy  of 
"thorough."  He  regarded  the  late  Confederate 
states  as  congueiexi .  .gl&YU&SS  possessing  no 
rights  the  conquerors  were  bound  to  respect.  Lij^e 
Sumner,  he  advocated  treating  them  as  territories. 
He  also  favored  negro  suffrage,  stringent  laws  for 
the  protection  of  the  freedmen,  and  homesteads 
for  them  to  be  carved  out  of  confiscated  lands. 

In  the  hope  of  gaining  popular  support,  the 
Radicals  promptly  carried  through  the  senate  a 
request  that  the  president  transmit  a  report  upon 
Southern  conditions  recently  made^Tby  Major- 
general  Carl  Schurz.  Schurz  was  a  naturalized 
German,  by  temperament  an  idealist  and  in 
clined  to  be  extremely  independent  of  party  in 
his  political  views.  He  participated  in  the  Revo 
lution  of  1848,  narrowly  escaping  a  Prussian 
firing-squad,  and  in  his  subsequent  rescue  of  his 
friend  and  teacher,  the  poet  Gottfried  Kinkel, 
from  life  imprisonment  in  the  Berlin  penitentiary 
he  performed  an  exploit  unsurpassed  in  gallantry 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  annals.  Emigrating 
to  America,  he  quickly  became  prominent  as  an 
anti-slavery  leader  and  was  much  in  demand  as 
an  orator.  For  a  short  time  he  was  minister  to 
Spain  under  Lincoln,  but  he  preferred  the  tented 
field  to  diplomacy,  and,  entering  the  army,  rose 
quickly  to  high  command.  At  the  close  of  hos 
tilities  he  went  South  at  Johnson's  request  on  a 
tour  of  investigation.  His  reports  were  at  first 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  23 

cordially  received,  but  as  the  president  became 
more  and  more  committed  to  his  liberal  policy 
he  lost  interest  in  his  agent's  work.  Upon  the 
general's  return  in  October,  he  asked  at  a  per 
sonal  interview  in  the  White  House  to  be  allowed 
to  make  a  formal  report.  The  president  demurred, 
Schurz  insisted,  and  a  dramatic  scene  ensued.  "I 
thereupon  turned  my  back  upon  Andrew  John 
son,"  said  Schurz  many  years  later  to  the  author, 
"and  I  never  spoke  to  him  again."  Subsequently 
Schurz  embodied  his  observations  in  a  well-writ 
ten  report,  and  it  was  this  paper  which  the  senate 
demanded.  The  president  complied,  and  trans 
mitted  also  a  report  made  by  General  Grant. 

Grant's  report  was  the  fruit  of  a  hasty  trip 
recently  taken  through  the  South,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  had  conversed  with  many  Southerners 
and  Federal  officers,  though  he  had  not  made 
any  real  investigation  of  the  situation.  C  His 
conclusions  were  favorable  to  Johnson's  Recon 
struction  plan,  for  he  reported:  "I  am  satis 
fied  that  the  mass  of  thinking  men  of  the  South 
accept  the  present  situation  of  affairs  in  good 
faith."  Schurz,  however,  found  "an  utter  ab 
sence  of  national  feeling,"  and  chronicled  many 
outrages  that  had  been  committed  upon  negroes 
and  white  Unionists.  He  reported  that,  while 
accepting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  Southern 
people  believed  that  "some  species  of  serfdom, 
peonage,  or  other  form  of  compulsory  labor  is  not 
slavery  and  may  be  introduced  without  a  vio 
lation  of  their  pledge."  As  a  "  condition  precedent 
to  'readmission,' "  Schurz  advocated  "the  exten 
sion  of  the  franchise  to  the  colored  people"  in 


24      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

order  to  give  them  "protection  against  oppressive 
class  legislation,  as  well  as  against  individual 
persecution." 

In  February  congress  passed  a  bill  continu 
ing  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  enlarging  its  powers, 
and  extending  civil  rights  to  the  freedmen.  Sup 
porters  of  the  bill  disclaimed  any  quarrel  with  the 
president,  but  it  was  out  of  harmony  with  his 
plan  of  Reconstruction,  and  he  vetoed  it.  As 
some  Republicans  were  not  yet  convinced  that 
the  breach  between  executive  and  legislature 
was  irrevocable,  an  attempt  to  pass  the  bill 
over  the  veto  failed. 

It  was  Johnson's  last  victory.  The  prevailing 
sentiment  in  congress  and  the  North  had  come 
to  be  that  "the  Southern  states  were  in  a  great 
hurry  about  getting  out  of  the  Union,  and  we 
will  take  our  time  about  letting  them  back  in." 
On  the  very  day  that  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
Bill  failed,  the  house  passed  a  resolution  to  the 
effect  that  no  senator  or  representative  from  one 
of  the  eleven  seceded  states  should  be  admitted 
to  congress  until  congress  declared  such  state 
entitled  to  representation.  The  senate  soon  after 
concurred,  and  henceforth  open  warfare  existed 
between  Johnson  and  congress. 

In  this  conflict  the  Radicals  were  aided  not 
only  by  Southern  rashness  but  also  by  the  presi 
dent's  own  lack  of  tact  and  of  official  dignity. 
On  February  22,  in  a  speech  to  a  crowd  of  citizens 
who  had  come  to  the  White  House  to  congratulate 
him  upon  the  veto,  he  threw  propriety  to  the  winds 
and  indulged  in  an  intemperate,  egotistical  ha 
rangue  in  which  he  denounced  his  enemies  in 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  25 

violent  terms.  He  styled  the  Joint  Committee 
on  Reconstruction  "an  irresponsible  central 
directory"  and  accused  it  of  usurping  the  powers 
of  congress.  When  asked  to  name  his  enemies, 
he  cried:  "I  say  Thaddeus  Stevens  of  Penn 
sylvania;  I  say  Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts; 
I  say  Wendell  Phillips  of  Massachusetts!"  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  impute  to  them  a  desire 
for  his  assassination.  The  Radicals  hailed  the 
speech  with  glee,  and  it  lost  the  president  many 
supporters. 

The  house  proceeded  to  pass  a  Civil  Rights 
BUL  which  had  already  received  the  approval  of 
the  senate.  The  bill  was  designed  to  carry  into 
effect  the  Thirteenth  Amendment^  the  ratification 
of  which  had  been  proclaimed  in  December,  and  to 
render  null  and  void  the  obnoxious  "black  codes^" 
It  declared  the  freedmen  to  be  citizens  of  the 
United  States  with  all  civil  rights,  and  provided 
heavy  penalties  for  the  punishment  of  any  one  who, 
under  color  of  state  law,  should  encroach  upon 
their  rights.  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  (March  27, 
1866),  but  congress  promptly  passed  it  over  the 
veto. 

Meanwhile  the  Joint  Committee  on  Recon 
struction  had  been  taking  testimony  regarding 
Southern  conditions  and  evolving  a  congressional 
plan.  In  its  essence,  this  plan,  sometimes  called 
"the  forfeited  rights  plan»"  was  to  deny  statehood 
to  the  seceded  states  until  certain  results  of  the 
war  had  been  irrevocably  guaranteed.  A  detail 
of  the  plan  was  a  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the 
constitution.  This  amendment,  as  it  finally 
passed  Congress  (June  13,  1866),  embodied  those 


26      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

features  of  the  Civil  Rights  Act  guaranteeing 
citizenship  and  civil  rights  to  the  freedmen  and 
provided  that  representatives  should  be  ap 
portioned  according  to  "the  whole  number  of 
persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed/'  but  that  in  case  the  suffrage  was  denied 
to  any  male  citizens  of  voting  age  the  representa 
tion  of  the  state  should  be  proportionately  dimin 
ished.  It  disqualified  for  Federal  and  state  offices 
all  persons  who,  having  taken  the  oath  to  support 
the  constitution,  had  subsequently  engaged  in 
rebellion,  but  congress  was  empowered  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  to  remove  such  disabilities.  The 
amendment  further  formally  asserted  the  validity 
of  the  public  debt  and  repudiated  the  Confederate 
debt  in  all  forms,  together  with  all  claims  for  the 
emancipation  of  slaves. 

In  July,  by  its  action  in  the  case  of  Tennessee, 
congress  outlined  the  conditions  on  which  the 
seceded  states  might  be  readmitted  to  their  old 
rights  and  privileges.  In  consideration  of  the 
fact  that  Tennessee  had  ratified  a  state  constitu 
tion  abolishing  slavery,  had  declared  the  ordinance 
of  secession  and  the  Confederate  debt  void,  and 
had  ratified  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth 
amendments,  congress  again  recognized  the 
statehood  of  Tennessee  and  admitted  her  sena 
tors  and  representatives.  About  the  same  time 
congress  passed  over  the  president's  veto  a 
new  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill  continuing  the 
institution  for  two  years. 

Had  the  other  Southern  states  accepted  the 
congressional  plan — the  Johnson  conditions  plus 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment — they  would  prob- 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  27 

ably  have  avoided  much  trouble  and  humiliation 
in  the  future.  It  is  true  that  extreme  Radicals 
like  Stevens  and  Sumner  would  have  tried  to 
impose  other  conditions,  but  it  is  improbable  that 
they  would  have  succeeded.  But  the  breach 
between  congress  and  president,  joined  with  the 
hope  of  aid  from  Northern  Democrats,  encouraged 
the  South  to  refuse  acceptance.  There  existed 
a  delusive  hope  that  with  a  united  South,  with 
the  Democratic  party  in  the  North  and  the 
president  to  help  them,  Southerners  might  recover 
control  of  the  government  and  regain  much  of 
what  had  been  lost  on  the  field  of  battle.  It  was 
a  sad  blunder.  Compared  with  the  settlement  of 
any  other  great  war,  the  plan  was  magnanimous, 
for  it  involved  no  executions,  confiscations,  or 
imprisonments.  It  restored  the  ballot  to  virtually 
every  white  man  who  would  take  an  oath  to 
support  the  constitution,  and  it  did  not  admit 
the  negro  to  the  franchise,  though  it  held  out 
a  reward  to  the  states  to  confer  the  franchise 
upon  him. 

Everything  now  depended  upon  the  outcome 
of  the  congressional  elections.  Johnson  had  great 
confidence  that  upon  an  appeal  to  the  people 
his  policy  would  be  sustained.  In  August  a  great 
"National  Union  Convention"  in  his  behalf  met 
at  Philadelphia.  It  included  many  prominent 
Confederates,  border-state  Whigs,  Northern  Dem 
ocrats,  both  Union  and  Copperhead,  and  a  con 
siderable  number  of  former  Republicans.  On 
the  first  day,  as  a  sign  of  the  closing  of  the  "bloody 
chasm"  between  the  sections,  the  delegates  from 
Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  walked  into 


28      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

the  convention  together,  whence  was  derived  the 
popular  name  of  the  "  Arm-in- Arm  Convention." 
In  September  a  convention  of  soldiers  and  sailors 
who  supported  the  president  met  in  Cleveland, 
but  it  was  noticeable  that  its  membership  did  not 
include  any  of  the  great  generals  of  the  war. 
Earlier  in  the  month  a  convention  of  Southern 
Unionists  met  in  Philadelphia  to  denounce  John 
son's  policy.  It  ended  in  a  wrangle  over  the  ques 
tion  of  negro  suffrage,  but  it  drew  the  attention  j 
of  the  North  to  outrages  perpetrated  upon  loyal  i 
men  in  the  South.  It  charged,  probably  with  ' 
some  exaggeration,  that  "more  than  a  thousand 
devoted  Union  citizens  have  been  murdered  in 
cold  blood  since  the  surrender  of  Lee,"  and  put 
forth  a  potent  plea  that  such  patriots  should  not 
be  abandoned  to  their  enemies.  A  fourth  con 
vention  composed  of  anti- Johnson  citizens,  sol 
diers,  and  sailors  assembled  in  Pittsburg,  and  by 
its  numbers  and  enthusiasm  bore  evidence  as  to 
where  the  sympathies  of  the  great  body  of  the 
defenders  of  the  Union  lay. 

The  result  of  the  campaign  might  have  been 
doubtful  had  it  not  been  for  the  president's  own 
acts  and  those  of  persons  who  supported  him.  On 
July  30,  1866,  two  days  after  the  adjournment 
of  congress,  a  blopdy  riot  took  place  in  New 
Orleans  which  helped  to  crystallize  the  opinions 
of  many  hesitating  voters.  There  had  developed 
in  Louisiana  a  movement  in  favor  of  negro  suf 
frage,  and  an  attempt  was  made,  with  the  consent 
of  the  governor  and  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  to  reconvene  the  convention  of  1864. 
Mayor  Monroe,  a  violent  secessionist  who  had 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  29 

been  mayor  at  the  time  of  the  capture  of  the  city 
four  years  before,  made  preparations  to  suppress 
the  convention.  A  procession  of  negroes  marching 
through  the  streets  became  involved  in  a  riot 
with  a  mob  of  whites  and  took  refuge  in  the  conven 
tion  hall.  The  police  and  the  mob  attacked  the 
hall,  and  an  inhuman  massacre  ensued  in  which 
about  forty  negroes  and  white  Radicals  were  killed, 
and  over  a  hundred  more  were  wounded,  while 
the  loss  of  the  assailants  was  only  about  a  dozen. 
General  Sheridan,  who  was  in  command  at  New 
Orleans,  characterized  the  affair  as  "an  absolute 
massacre  ...  a  murder  which  the  mayor  and 
police  of  the  city  perpetrated  without  the  shadow 
of  a  necessity."  The  New  Orleans  riot  and  a 
somewhat  similar  outbreak  at  Memphis  were 
made  much  of  by  the  president's  opponents  and 
did  much  to  convince  the  Northern  people  that 
it  would  be  folly  to  leave  the  freedmen  to  the 
mercy  of  their  former  masters. 

Equally  disastrous  to  the  president's  cause 
were  the  president's  own  acts.  Late  in  August 
he  set  out  for  Chicago  to  participate  in  the  cere 
mony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  a  monument 
to  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  While  "swinging  round 
the  circlet"  he  seized  upon  the  opportunity  to 
mak$  a  number  of  violent  speeches  glorifying 
himself  and  denouncing  congress  as  a  congress 
of  only  part  of  the  country.  At  Cleveland  while 
intoxicated  he  indulged  in  an  unseemly  wrangle 
with  the  audience,  and  in  reply  to  a  reproof 
declared:  "I  care  not  for  dignity."  He  also 
asked:  "Why  not  hang  Thad  Stevens  and  Wen 
dell  Phillips?"  At  St.  Louis,  angered  by  cries 


30      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

of  "New  Orleans,"  he  foolishly  charged  that 
the  riot  at  that  place  was  substantially  planned 
by  "the  Radical  congress." 

Such  behavior  alienated  thousands.  Johnson 
returned  to  Washington  a  thoroughly  discredited 
man.  Although  he  removed  hundreds  of  opponents 
from  office  in  an  effort  to  turn  the  tide,  he  suf 
fered  an  overwhelming  defeat.  The  people  of 
the  North  condemned  the  president's  plan  and 
returned  to  the  next  congress  sufficient  major 
ities  against  him  to  enable  the  congressional  leaders 
to  reconstruct  the  Southern  states  as  they  chose, 
irrespective  of  Johnson's  opposition.  Many  ele 
ments  entered  into  the  result,  but  the  chief  was 
this:  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  loyal  people  of  the 
North  were  determined  not  to  take  any  chances 
of  losing  the  results  of  a  frightful  war  that  had 
cost  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  and  untold 
treasure. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Southern  people  they 
failed  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times.  Badly 
advised  by  Johnson  and  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  North,  they  still  hoped  that  the  president 
would  triumph  in  the  end.  In  the  period  from 
October,  1866,  to  February,  1867,  the  legisla 
tures  of  every  one  of  the  seceded  states  except 
Tennessee  voted  down  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment  by  overwhelming  majorities,  thereby  delib 
erately  defying  congress  and  rendering  inevitable 
the  imposition  of  terms  far  more  drastic  and 
merciless. 

The  Radicals  regarded  the  result  of  the  election 
as  a  mandate  to  deal  rigorously  in  the  work  of 
Reconstruction.  The  rejection  of  the  amendment 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  31 

strengthened  the  hands  of  those  who  demanded 
the  exaction  of  further  guarantees  and  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  the  movement  in  favor  of  negro 
suffrage.  Hitherto  the  number  of  persons  who 
favored  bestowing  the  ballot  upon  the  blacks 
had  been  small.  A  few  extremists  like  Sumner 
and  Chase  had  advocated  it  from  the  first,  but 
the  great  majority  even  of  Republicans  held 
with  Governors  Morton  of  Indiana  and  Andrews 
of  Massachusetts  that  unlimited  negro  suffrage 
would  be  a  sad  mistake.  At  this  time  only  six 
Northern  states  allowed  persons  of  color  to  vote, 
and  it  would  manifestly  be  inconsistent  to  ask 
the  South  to  grant  them  the  ballot.  But  as  time 
went  on  the  idea  gained  in  favor  even  among 
moderate  men.  It  was  believed  that  the  ballot 
would  serve  the~freedman  as  a  weapon  in  his 
own  defense,  Awhile  keen-sighted  Republican 
politicians  saw  that  the  measure  would  enable 
their  party  to  control  a  number  of  Southern 
states.  *  Jgu. 

Congress  proceeded  to  tie  the  president 's^^jc^  J 
hands  and  to  elaborate  a  more  rigorous  plan  of  t  .r  A^oA  * 
Reconstruction.  By  a  rider  on  the  army  appropri- .  J^  *4*/*' 
ation  bill  (March  2,  _ISfiIl  the  president  was  •<if^*^yU 

•r^jv*1*4^ 


at  Washington  without  his  own  consent  or  the 
approval  of  the  senate.  A  violation  of  any 
these  provisions  was  pronounced  a  misdemeanor. 
By  another  act  of  the  same  date,  passed  over 
Johnson's  veto,  congress  prohibited  the  presi 
dent  from  removing  civil  officers  save  with  the 


32      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

consent  of  the  senate.  Violation  of  this  Tenure 
of  Office  Act  rendered  the  president  liable  tonne 
anorimprisonment.  As  the  president  had  been 
allowed  the  power  of  removal  since  the  institu 
tion  of  the  government,  the  constitutionality  of 
this  law,  like  many  of  the  other  Reconstruction 
acts,  was  open  to  grave  question. 

The  new  policy  toward  the  South  was  elaborated 
in  what  is  generally  known  as  the  Great  Recon 
struction  Act  (March  2,  1867)  and  in  two  sup- 
plementary"acts  (March  23,  July  19,  1867),  all 
passed  over  Johnson's  veto.  Acting  on  the  theory 
that  no  legal  state  governments  existed  in  the 
ten  "rebel  States,"  congress  divided  these  states 
into  five  military  districts,  each  of  which  was  to 
be  ruTetTby  a  military  officer.  This  officer  was 
to  make  a  registration  of  the  voters  of  each  state 
within  his  district,  excluding  those  persons  dis 
qualified  for  rebellion,  but  admitting  all  other 
male  citizens  "of  whatever  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition."  These  voters  were  to  choose  dele- 
•  gates  to  a  cor^titiilicumL-CQnventiqn,  the  work 
of  which,  if  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  registered 
voters,  was  to  be  submitted  to  _  congress.  If 
the  constitution  so  framed  and  ratifiea  proved 
satisfactory  to  congress,  and  if  the  legislature 
elected  under  it  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment,  the  state  might  then  be  restored  to  its 
position  in  iJbe  Union. 

The  congress  which  passed  the  two  supple 
mentary  Reconstruction  acts  was  the  new  fortieth, 
which,  in  obedience  to  a  law  passed  by  the  ex 
piring  thirty-ninth,  met  on  March  4th  instead 
of  waiting  as  usual  till  the  following  December. 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  33 

In  July,  however,  despite  the  earnest  appeals 
of  some  of  the  Radicals  not  to  leave  Johnson 
so  long  free  from  restraint,  congress  adjourned 
until  November.  In  the  interval  the  president 
determined  to  rid  himself  of  Secretary  of  War 
Stanton,  who  was  openly  aiding  the  Radicals 
arid  retained  office  in  order  to  act  as  a  check  upon 
his  superior.  Sta^itogL-declined  to  resign,_  so 
Johnson  promptly  suspended  him  and  appointed 
General  Grant  secretary  ad  interim.  Upon  the 
reassembling  of  congress  the  president  sub 
mitted  his  reasons  for  this  act  to  the  senate, 
as  required  by  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act.  Had 
the  senate  concurred,  the  suspension  would  have 
become  a  permanent  removal,  but  that  body  was 
anxious  to  embarrass  Johnson  and  refused  (Janu 
ary  13,  1868).  Stanton  at  once  returned  to  office, 
but  a  month  later,  determined  to  test  the  con 
stitutionality  of  the  obnoxious  act,  Johnson 
summarily  removed  him.  Stanton  refused  to 
recognize  the  order  of  dismissal,  and  the  president's 
act  precipitated  the  gravest  crisis  between  execu 
tive  and  legislature  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

Three  days  later  the  house  of  representatives, 
by  a  great  majority,  formally  resolved  "that 
Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors." 
The  trial  before  the  senate  began  on  the  5th 
of  March.  With  two  exceptions,  the  managers 
were  all  extreme  Radicals,  the  most  prominent 
being  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
John  A.  Logan,  and  George  S.  Boutwell.  The 
president's  counsel  included  the  learned  ex- 
Judge  Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  the  brilliant  William 


34      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

M.  Evarts,  and  Attorney-general  Stansberry, 
who  resigned  office  for  the  purpose  of  defending 
his  chief.  The  charges  consisted  of  eleven  articles, 
mostly  dealing  with  Stanton's  removal,  but  the 
tenth  was  based  upon  newspaper  extracts  from 
the  president's  violent  speeches. 

As  the  evidence  was  presented  it  became 
glaringly  apparent  that  the  prosecutors  would 
be  unable  to  prove  that  the  president  had  been 
guilty  of  "Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high  Crimes 
and  Misdemeanors,"  which  are  the  sole  constitu 
tional  grounds  for  impeachment.  It  was  shown 
that,  though  bitterly  opposing  congress,  the 
president  had  displayed  a  careful  regard  for  law 
and  precedent.  In  violating  the  Tenure  of  Office 
Act  he  had  meant  to  get  a  test  case  as  to  its 
constitutionality  before  the  supreme  court;  he 
had  had  no  intention  of  beginning  a  revolution. 
Furthermore,  when  the  bill  was  under  consider 
ation,  senators  who  were  now  supporting  im 
peachment  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  did 
not  guarantee  the  tenure  of  cabinet  members  who 
had  held  over  from  Lincoln's  administration  as 
Stanton  had  done.  But  party  prejudice  ran  so 
high  that  many  senators  felt  justified  in  support 
ing  the  president's  removal  on  political  grounds 
or  grounds  of  public  policy,  having  as  a  precedent 
for  such  action  the  impeachment  on  account 
of  drunken  insanity  of  Judge  John  Pickering  in 
the  time  of  Jefferson's  presidency.  A  number 
of  Republican  senators  refused,  however,  to  be 
carried  away  by  party  prejudice  and  staked  their 
political  lives  in  an  effort  to  save  the  president. 
The  first  vote  was  taken  (May  16,  1868)  on  the 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  35 

eleventh  article,  a  kind  of  omnibus  change  shrewdly 
drawn  up  by  Stevens.  The  vote  stood,  "guilty," 
35;  "not  guilty,"  19,  one  less  than  the  required 
two-thirds.  Fessenden  of  Maine,  Fowler  of  Ten 
nessee,  Grimes  of  Tbwa,  Hejiderson'^oT'Missouri, 
Ross  of  """Kansas,  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  and  Van 
Winkle  of  West  Virginia,  by  voting  with  the 
Democrats,  had  defeated  impeachment.  It  is 
now  known  that  at  least  two  other  senators, 
Sprague  of  Rhode  Island  and  Willey  of  West 
Virginia,  stood  ready  to  vote  in  the  negative  had 
it  been  necessary  to  do  so  to  save  Johnson.  Ten 
days  later  the  same  result  was  reached  on  the 
second  and  third  articles,  and  the  case  at  once 
broke  down. 

Andrew  Johnson  and  the  independence  of  the 
executive  were  saved.  Secretary  Stanton  at  once 
resigned  and  was  succeeded,  by  General  J,  M. 


A  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  North 
had  hoped  for  conviction,  but  they  acquiesced  in 
the  result  the  more  readily  because  they  knew 
that  Johnson's  remaining  lease  of  power  was 
short.  Four  days  after  the  vote  on  the  first  count 
the  National  Union  Republican  Convention  met 
in  Chicago,  and  without  a  dissenting  vote  nomi 
nated  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  the  hero  of  Fort  Donelson, 
Vicksburg,  and  Appomattox,  for  the  presidency. 
Schuyler  Colfax  of  Indiana,  the  speaker  of  the 
house,  was  named  for  the  vice-presidency.  The, 
platform  approved  the  congressional  plan  of 
reconstruction,  denounced  as  "a  national  crime" 
all  forms  of  repudiation,  and  somewhat  guardedly 
opposed  the  "Greenback"  plan  of  paying  the 


36      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

debt  in  depreciated  paper.  On  the  question  of 
negro  suffrage  the  platform  was  evasive.  The 
idea  had  not  proved  altogether  popular  even|in 
the  North,  where  the  people  of  four  states — 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Ohio,  and  Kansas — had 
recently  rejected  constitutional  amendments  en 
franchising  the  blacks.  On  this  subject  the  plat 
form  read:  "The  guarantee  by  Congress  of  equal 
suffrage  to  all  loyal  men  at  the  South  was  de 
manded  by  every  consideration  of  public  safety, 
of  gratitude,  and  of  justice,  and  must  be  main 
tained;  while  the  question  of  suffrage  in  all  the 
loyal  States  properly  belongs  to  the  people  of 
those  States."  General  Grant  accepted  the  nom 
ination  in  a  characteristically  brief  letter,  one 
phrase  of  which,  "Let  us  have  peace,"  struck 
the  popular  fancy. 

The  Democratic  convention,  meeting  in  Tam 
many  Hall,  New  York  City  (July  4,  1868), 
denounced  the  Reconstruction  acts  "as  usur 
pations  and  unconstitutional,  revolutionary  and 
void,"  and  demanded  the  "immediate  restoration 
of  all  the  States  to  their  rights  in  the  Union," 
with  amnesty  for  "all  past  political  offenses." 
It  also  declared  for  the  taxation  of  government 
bonds  and  for  their  payment,  when  not  otherwise 
stipulated,  in  "lawful  money,"  meaning  the  pa 
per  currency  popularly  known  as  "Greenbacks." 
The  financial  plank  was  in  part  the  reflection  of 
a  desire  ultimately  to  repudiate  the  debt,  in  part 
of  a  "soft  money"  craze  that  was  particularly 
prevalent  in  the  West,  where  there  existed  a 
strong  dislike  for  the  moneyed  East,  and  where 
"the  same  currency  for  the  bond-holder  and  the 


Ij        CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  37 

plough-holder,"  struck  a  popular  chord.  Business 
bad,  and  by  many  it  was  believed  that  the 
'depression  was  due  to  the  contractionist  policy 
of  retiring  greenbacks  that  had  temporarily 
been  adopted  by  congress  and  the  treasury 
department. 

The  leader  of  the  "Greenback"  forces  w&s 
GeoTge  H.  Pendleton,  an  Ohioan  who  had  served 
a  number  of  terms  in  congress  and  now  had  the 
support  of  his  state  for  the  presidential  nomi 
nation.  Another  candidate  was  Chief  Justice 
Chase,  who  had  hoped  to  receive  the  Republican 
nomination  and  now  engaged  in  an  undignified 
scramble  for  the  Democratic  one.  Chase's  "in 
sanity  on  the  subject  of  the  presidency"  was  in 
part  due  to  the  ambition  of  his  brilliant  and 
beautiful  daughter,  Kate  Chase  Sprague.  Lin 
coln  had  noted  the  weakness,  and  of  Chase  it  was 
said  that  "what  in  other  men  is  a  craving  for  the 
presidency  seems  to  have  been  in  Chase  a  lust 
for  it."  Other  candidates  were  Sanford  E.  Church 
of  New  York,  General  Hancock  of  Pennsylvania, 
Senator  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana,  and 
President  Johnson.  The  contest  continued  for 
twenty-one  ballots  without  result.  On  the 
twenty-second  the  Ohio  delegation  cast  then- 
votes  for  Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York,  the 
presiding  officer,  a  stampede  ensued,  and  he 
was  unanimously  nominated  in  spite  of  his  own 
protests. 

In  the  campaign  the  financial  issue  was  quickly 
driven  into  the  background  by  the  Southern 
question.  Frequent  murders  of  Republicans, 
both  white  and  colored,  in  the  South  diminished 


38      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Democratic  chances,  while  the  general  who  had 
written  "unconditional  surrender"  made  a  better 
candidate  than  the  governor  of  New  York  who 
had  addressed  the  draft  rioters  of  July,  1863, 
as  "my  friends."  The  electoral  vote  stood  £14 
for  Grant  and  only  80  for  Seymour.  An  analysis 
of  the  popular  vote  showed,  however,  that  the 
result  was  much  closer  than  would  appear  from 
these  figures,  for  Grant's  majorities  in  several 
states  were  small,  and  his  success  in  certain 
Southern  states  was  evidently  due  to  the  dis- 
franchisement  of  ex-Confederates.  The  possi 
bility  of  future  defeat  stared  the  Republicans 
in  the  face  and  confirmed  them  in  their  policy 
of  votes  for  the  freedmen. 

Andrew  Johnson  retired  from  the  presidency  a 
discredited  man,  and  lived  for  some  years  in 
restless  obscurity  in  Tennessee,  until  shortly  be 
fore  his  death  he  returned  thence  (1875)  to 
Washington  as  a  United  States  senator.  His 
failure  on  the  Reconstruction  question  has  tended 
to  obscure  two  diplomatic  triumphs  of  his  ad 
ministration.  One  of  these  was  the  purchase 
from  Russia  in  1867  of  the  vast  territory  of  Alaska 
for  the  modest  sum  of  $7,200,000.  The  other  was 
a  vindication  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  against 
European  aggression.  In  order  to  exact  the  pay 
ment  of  debts,  some  of  them  of  doubtful  char 
acter,  France,  Spain,  and  Great  Britain  had  in 
1861  united  in  sending  a  naval  and  military  ex 
pedition  to  Mexico.  Spain  and  Great  Britain 
soon  withdrew  their  forces,  but  Napoleon  III. 
kept  his  troops  in  the  country,  conquered  it, 
and  erected  a  monarchy,  to  the  throne  of  which 


CONGRESSIONAL  PLAN  39 

he  invited  the  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria. 
Influenced  by  his  ambitious  young  wife^  Carlo tta, 
daughter  of  the  king  of  Belgium,  Maximilian  ac 
cepted.  While  our  Civil  War  continued  our  gov 
ernment  could  undertake  nothing  more  drastic 
than  to  protest  against  Napoleon's  action.  With 
the  return  of  peace,  however,  a  large  force  of 
troops  under  General  Sheridan  was  massed  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  aid  was  given  the  patriot  party 
under  Juarez,  and  Napoleon  was  politely  but 
positively  informed  that  he  must  withdraw  the 
French  forces.  The  emperor  hesitated,  but  at 
length  decided  to  comply.  Carlo  tta  sailed  to 
Europe  and  passionately  endeavored  to  dissuade 
Napoleon  from  his  purpose,  but  failed.  She  then 
visited  Rome,  and  while  having  an  audience 
with  the  pope  her  reason  left  her.  The  unfortu 
nate  Maximilian  was  captured  by  the  Mexicans 
and  put  to  death  (June  19,  1867).  His  fate 
served  as  a  grim  warning  to  other  foreign  princes 
who  might  in  the  future  feel  inclined  to  set  up 
kingdoms  in  America. 


CHAPTER  III 

CARPET-BAGGERS  AND  KU-KLTJX-KLANS 

IN 'March,  1867,  President  Johnson  appointed 
five  military  officers  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  five  districts  created  by  the  great  Reconstruc 
tion  Act.  The  officers  proceeded  to  create  a  new 
electorate  and  through  it  new  civil  governments. 
In  conformity  with  the  supplementary  acts  the 
registration  was  so  conducted  as  to  secure  the 
fullest  possible  enrollment  of  the  blacks  and  the 
completest  possible  exclusion  of  disfranchised 
whites.  The  consequence  was  that  the  constitu 
tional  conventions  chosen  by  this  electorate  in 
cluded  in  varying  degrees  men  utterly  unfitted 
by  previous  training  for  the  work  of  constitution 
making.  Outside  pressure  and  the  presence  in 
each  convention  of  a  few  men  of  ability  served, 
however,  to  make  the  constitutions  much  better 
than  could  have  been  anticipated.  In  many 
respects  they  were  modeled  after  those  of  certain 
Northern  states.  Particularly  laudable  were  their 
provisions  for  ]3u]bllc  education,  a  matter  in  which 
the  constitutions  they  superseded  were,  as  a 
rule,  lamentably  deficient.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
they  guaranteed  -sntije,  ..equality,  both  civil  .and 
political,  regardless~of  race  or  previous  condition. 
40 


CARPET-BAGGERS  41 

Before  the  summer  of  1868  all  the  constitutional 
conventions  had  completed  their  work  except 
that  of  Texas.  The  electorates  of  thejtwo  Qaro? 
linas,  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Georgia  ratified 
the  new  constitutions  and  chose  state  executives 
and  legislatures  before  the  long  session  of  the  for 
tieth  congress  adjourned,  and  that  body  read 
mitted  these  states  into  the  Union.  In  all  these 
states  the  mass  of  the  white  people  had  vainly 
raised  the  issue  of  "Caucasian  civilization"  vs. 
"African  barbarism,"  but  in  Alabama  they  suc 
ceeded  by  systematic  abstention  from  voting  in 
preventing  the  constitution's  receiving  the  re 
quired  majority  of  registered  voters.  Neverthe 
less,  the  Radical  leaders  in  congress  proceeded  to 
saddle  Alabama  with  the  constitution  and  to 
readmit  her  with  the  rest.  In  Mississippi  the 
constitution  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  the 
votes  actually  cast.  This  state,  with  Virginia 
and  Texas,  in  which  the  work  of  Reconstruction 
had  proceeded  more  slowly,  remained  out  for 
some  time  longer.  The  readmitted  states  all 
ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and  it  was 
proclaimed  a  part  of  the  constitution  in  July,  1868. 
In  Georgia  race  prejudice  soon  overcame  the 
dictates  of  prudence,  and  the  Democratic  members 
of  the  legislature,  aided  by  a  few  white  Repub 
licans,  proceeded  to  expel  the  twenty-seven 
colored  members  on  pseudo-constitutional  grounds. 
As  a  result  of  this  impolitic  act,  congress  denied 
Georgia  representation,  counted  her  electoral 
vote  conditionally,  and  subjected  her  to  a  new 
process  of  Reconstruction.  The  legislature  was 
purged  of  twenty-four  Democrats  who  labored 


42      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

under  disabilities,  the  negro  members  were  re 
stored,  and  the  state  was  compelled  to  ratify  the 
new  Fifteenth  Amendment. 

This  amendment  provided  that  "the  right  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by 
any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude."  It  was  one  of  the  results 
of  the  election  of  1868,  and,  though  it  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  Northern  as  well  as  Southern  Demo 
crats,  it  was  proclaimed  in  effect  March  30,  1870. 
Not  only  Georgia  but  Texajs,  Virginia,  and  Mis 
sissippi  were  required  to  ratify  it  as  a  condition 
of  readmission.  As  the  price  of  their  obstinacy, 
the  people  of  these  four  states  were  forced  "to 
swallow  the  black  dose  of  negro  suffrage"  in  order 
to  obtain  their  own. 

P^liticaHines  in  the  South  were  from  the  first 
tightly  drawn.  The  opponents  of  congressional 
reconstruction,  known  as  Conservatives  or  Demo 
crats,  consisted  of  most  of  the  white  population 
and  a  very  few  negroes.  Their  opponents,  the 
Radicals  or  Republicans,  included  the  great  mass 
of  the  freedmen,  some  recent  Northern  settlers — 
the  hated  "Carpet-baggers" — and  a  few  native 
whites — the  still  more  hated  "Scalawags."  The 
r  negroes  naturally  gravitated  into  this  party, 
and  the  process  was  hastened  by  the  formation 
of  Union  or  Lo^aJJLeagues,  under  cover  of  which, 
with  awe-inspiring  rites,  the  new  voters  received 
political  instruction  from  the  white  leaders. 
With  its  iron  discipline  the  League  held  the  blacks 
together  for  several  years.  In  some  cases  its 
members  resorted  to  whipping  and  otherwise 


CARPET-BAGGERS  43 

maltreating    negroes    who    became    Democrats. 


44      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

The  objects  of  these  orders  varied  in  different 
localities,  but  the  one  great  design  was  to  J^eep  the 
negroes  "down,"  In  many  instances  the  orders 
did  laudable  work  by  helping  to  restrain  lawless 
ness.  With  emancipation,  thievery  and  the  burn 
ing  of  barns  and  gin-houses  had  become  common; 
while  crimes  of  the  worst  character,  such  as  rape 
and  murder,  were  occasionally  committed  by  the 
blacks.  Too  often,  however,  the  societies  became 
the  instruments  of  private  vengeance  and  political 
proscription,  and  committed  outrages  as  unjusti 
fiable  as  they  were  cruel  and  fiendish.  They  took 
full  advantage  of  the  credulous  fears  and  super 
stitions  of  the  ignorant  blacks.  A  common  disguise 
of  the  Ku-Klux  consisted  of  "  a  white  mask,  a  tall 
cardboard  hat,  and  a  gown  that  covered  the  whole 
person."  A  mere  meeting  with  such  a  being  in 
the  witching  hours  of  night  was  often  enough  to 
scare  an  obnoxious  negro  into  obeying  the  wishes 
of  the  Klan.  The  language  of  the  warnings  was 
often  mysterious  and  sanguinary;  the  paper  on 
which  they  were  written  was  likely  to  be  adorned 
with  "a  picture  of  crossed  swords,  coffin,  skull 
and  crossbones,  owl,  bloody  moon,  a  train  of 
cars  each  labelled  K.  K.  K."  At  their  worst, 
the  Klans  whipped  negroes,  burnt  their  school- 
houses  and  churches,  and  indulged  in  brutal 
outrage  and  murder.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts 
of  Southern  novelists  and  playwrights  to  palliate 
their  offenses,  the  record  of  these  secret  orders 
is  a  black  one. 

The  excuse  that  the  whites  were  goaded  into 
such  outrages  by  the  evils  of  negro  domination 
is  true  only  in  part,  for  the  Klans  displayed 


CARPET-BAGGERS  45 

notable  activity  in  opposing  the  new  state  con 
stitutions  and  in  the  election  of  state  officers 
before  the  blacks  were  yet  in  power.  In  the 
presidential  election  of  1868,  stories  of  brutal 
outrages  were  a  potent  political  argument  in  the 
North.  Republican  officials,  both  white  and  black, 
were  murdered  in  several  states,  and  a  reign  of 
terror  existed  in  many  sections. 

For  varying  periods  of  time  most  of  the  re 
constructed  states  were  in  the  hands  of  the  negroes 
and  their  white  allies.  It  was  a  sinister  alliance 
which  had  been  made  possible  only  by  the  plea 
that  the  negro  must  be  given  the  ballot  for  his 
own  protection.  The  negroes  were  totally  with 
out  political  experience,  and  for  the  most  part 
illiterate,  ignorant,  and  unmoral.  Some  of  their 
white  allies  were  men  of  character,  but  too  many 
of  them  were  mere  adventurers  who  saw  in  the 
situation  a  splendid  opportunity  for  their  own 
enrichment.  The  inevitable  result  was  a  carnival 
of  misrule  hitherto  unapproached  in  American 
annals,  though  equalled  in  the  same  period  in  the 
metropolis  of  the  country  under  Tweed, 

Probably  the  most  notable  instance  of  such 
misgovernment  is  that  afforded  by  Louisiana. 


Wholesale  corruption,  intimidation  of  negro 
voters  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands, 
political  assassinations,  riots,  revolutions — all 
these  were  the  order  of  the  day  in  Louisiana 
politics  in  the  lurid  years  from  1866  to  187J. 

That  this  was  so  was  partly  due  to  the  character 
of  the  population.  Many  of  the  white  inhabi 
tants  were  French  and  Spanish  Creoles  who  had 
both  the  virtues  and  the  vices  of  their  ancestors. 


46      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

The  ante-bellum  society  of  New  Orleans  had  been 
polite  and  even  brilliant,  yet  the  state  was  one 
of  the  least  law-abiding  of  any  of  the  long-settled 
communities.  The  custom  of  the  duello  still 
lingered,  and  in  New  Orleans  frequent  bloody 
encounters  took  place  beneath  the  moss-hung 
"duelling  oaks"  in  what  is  now  the  city  park. 
Occasionally  this  lack  of  respect  for  law  revealed 
itself  in  political  frauds  and  riots,  and  Louisiana 
had  a  widespread  reputation  as  a  corrupt  state. 
The  freedmen,  despite  the  presence  of  a  consider 
able  number  of  educated  blacks  in  New  Orleans, 
were  on  the  average  less  intelligent  than  in  most 
of  the  former  slave  states.  The  number  of  slaves 
had  been  unusually  large,  and  most  of  them  had 
lived  on  great  plantations  where  civilizing  contact 
with  the  superior  race  was  slight.  Furthermore, 
many  of  the  slaves  had  been  persons  of  desperate 
or  criminal  character  who  in  punishment  had  been 
"sold  down  the  River." 

The  white  people  of  Louisiana  did  not  wait  to 
see  the  fruits  of  negro  rule  before  falling  upon  the 
hapless  freedmen.  In  July,  1866,  occurred  the 
bloody  New  Orleans  riot  already  described,  and 
in  the  late  summer  and  fall  of  1868  the  Knights  of 
the  White  Camelia  entered  upon  so  vigorous  a 
campaign  of  violence  and  intimidation  that  a 
Republican  majority  of  26,000  in  the  spring  was 
transformed  into  a  Democratic  majority  of  46,000 
for  Seymour.  This  astonishing  reversal  was 
explained  by  the  Republican  members  of  a  con 
gressional  investigating  committee  as  follows : 

"The  testimony  shows  that  over  2,000  persons 
were  killed,  wounded,  and  otherwise  injured  in 


CARPET-BAGGERS  47 

Louisiana  within  two  weeks  prior  to  the  Presi 
dential  election  in  November,  1868;  that  half 
the  state  was  overrun  by  violence;  and  that  mid 
night  raids,  secret  murders,  and  open  riot  kept 
the  people  in  constant  terror  until  the  Republicans 
surrendered  all  claim.  .  .  .  The  most  remarkable 
case  is  that  of  St.  Landry,  a  planting  parish  on  the 
river  Teche.  Here  the  Republicans  had  a  regis 
tered  majority  of  1,071  votes.  In  the  spring  of 
1868  they  carried  the  parish  by  678.  In  the  fall 
they  gave  Grant  no  vote,  not  one — while  the 
Democrats  cast  4,787,  the  full  vote  of  the  parish, 
for  Seymour  and  Blair.  Here  occurred  one  of  the 
bloodiest  riots  on  record,  in  which  the  Ku-Klux 
killed  and  wounded  over  200  Republicans,  hunt 
ing  and  chasing  them  for  two  days  and  nights 
through  fields  and  swamps.  Thirteen  captives 
were  taken  from  the  jail  and  shot.  A  pile  of 
twenty-five  dead  bodies  was  found  half-buried 
in  the  woods.  Having  conquered  the  Republicans 
and  killed  and  driven  off  the  leaders,  the  Ku-Klux 
captured  the  masses,  marked  them  with  badges 
of  red  flannel,  enrolled  them  in  clubs,  made  them 
vote  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  gave  them  a 
certificate  of  the  fact." 

^A  Democratic  historian,  who  was  then  a  mem 
ber  of  congress,  thinks  this  statement  "a  good 
deal  exaggerated,  especially  as  to  the  number 
killed,"  but  admits  that  "the  failure  of  the  ne 
groes  to  vote  can  be  explained  only  on  the  theory 
that  a  reign  of  terror  existed."^ 

From  1868  to  1876  the  ^arty  in  opposition, 
consisting  of  most  of  the  white  inhabitants, 
including  almost  all  the  property  owners,  pursued 


48    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 


_  of  intimidation,  even  to  Jthe  extent  of 
assassination,  while  the  party  in  power,  consisting 
chiefly  of  negroes,  with  a_  sprinkling  of  white 
adventurers,  presorted  to  election  frauds  and  to 
unblushing  misappropriation  of  public  funds. 
The  value  of  property  greatly  decreased,  the 
payment  of  taxes  fell  far  in  arrears,  and  the  public 
debt  swelled  to  enormous  proportions.  The  de 
crease  in  property  value  was  due  in  part  to  the 
ravages  of  war,  to  the  emancipation  of  hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  slaves,  to  the  dis 
orders  incident  to  the  change  from  one  labor 
system  to  another,  to  the  disastrous  panic  of  the 
early  '70's,  and  to  misgovernment.  The  increase 
in  the  debt  was  not  wholly  the  result  of  actual 
stealing  as  is  often  represented,  but  the  amount 
stolen  was  large.  Expenditures  were  increased 
as  a  result  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  Mississippi 
levees,  of  subsidies  to  companies  (fraudulent  in 
some  cases)  engaged  in  undertakings  which  it  was 
hoped  would  help  the  development  of  the  state, 
and  of  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  public 
education.  Tax  receipts  fell  off  as  a  result  of  the 
decrease  in  the  value  of  property,  while  the  state 
bonds  were  floated  far  below  par.  Financiers 
had  little  faith  in  Southern  bonds,  partly  because 
of  unsettled  conditions  existing  there,  partly 
because  in  the  period  before  the  war  so  many 
of  the  states  in  that  section  had  repudiated  their 
debts.  What  faith  they  had  was  misplaced,  for 
when  the  states  were  "redeemed,"  a  large  pro 
portion  of  Southern  bonds  were  repudiated. 

In  1872  the  Radicals  quarreled  among  them 
selves.     Governor  Warmoth,  one  of  their  least 


CARPET-BAGGERS  49 

scrupulous  leaders,  went  over  to  the  Conserva 
tives,  and  a  period  of  great  confusion  followed. 
The  election  was  claimed  by  both  parties,  but  the 
Radicals  were  able  through  the  complaisance  of  a 
Federal  judge,  who  issued  a  "midnight  restraining 
order"  of  doubtful  legality,  to  obtain  the  all- 
important  aid  of  the  Federal  troops  and  to  install 
William  Pitt  Kellogg  as  governor.  McEnery, 
the  Conservative  candidate,  was  also  inaugurated, 
but  was  presently  obliged  temporarily  to  abandon 
all  efforts  to  assert  his  authority.  On  September 
14,  1874,  however,  the  White  League,  an  armed 
quasi-secret  organization,  rose  against  the  Kellogg 
government.  A  battle  ensued  in  the  streets  of 
New  Orleans,  and  Kellogg  and  his  supporters 
took  refuge  in  the  custom-house.  Once  more  the 
president  interfered,  and  reinstated  the  Radicals 
by  Federal  bayonets.  During  the  ensuing  two 
years  a  state  of  anarchy  existed  in  parts  of 
Louisiana. 

Rarely  have  a  proud  people  drunk  deeper  of 
the  cup  of  humiliation  than  did  the  white  in 
habitants  of  South  Carolina  in  the  sixteen  years 
following  the  suicidal  ordinance  of  1860.  Forced 
during  four  years  of  mingled  triumph  and  defeat 
to  endure  the  vexation  of  a  blockading  fleet  which 
cut  off  well-nigh  all  commerce  with  the  world 
outside,  they  had  at  last  recognized  the  end  when 
an  invading  army,  bent  on  vengeance,  had  swept 
through  the  land  consuming  and  destroying 
everything  in  its  path  and  leaving  the  capital  in 
i  ruins.  At  intervals  for  more  than  a  decade  there 
after  troops  wearing  the  hated  blue  were  stationed 
here  and  there  about  the  state,  but  no  such 


50      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

reminder  was  required  to  make  it  apparent  that 
the  old  order  had  passed  away.  The  fact  was 
brought  home  in  a  far  more  tangible  form.  The 
pyramid  of  society  had  been  turned  upside  down. 
Those  who  had  been  the  slaves  were  now  the 
rulers.  In  the  government,  in  the  places  of  the 
ruined  aristocracy,  stood  black  and  brown  freed- 
men,  led  by  hated  Yankees  and  equally  hated 
"Scalawags." 

In  1873  three-fourths  of  the  state  legislature, 
according  to  a  traveler,  "belonged  to  the  African 
race.  They  were  of  every  hue  from  the  light 
octoroon  to  the  deep  black.  .  .  .  Every  negro 
type  and  physiognomy  was  here  to  be  seen  from 
the  genteel  serving  man  to  the  rough-hewn  cus 
tomer  from  the  rice  or  cotton  field.  Their  dress 
was  as  varied  as  their  countenances.  There  was 
the  second-hand  black  frock-coat  of  infirm  gen 
tility,  glossy  and  threadbare.  There  was  the 
stove-pipe  hat  of  many  ironings  and  departed 
styles.  There  was  also  to  be  seen  a  total  disre 
gard  of  the  proprieties  of  costume  in  the  coarse 
and  dirty  garments  of  the  field;  the  stub  jackets 
and  slouch  hats  of  soiling  labor.  In  some  in 
stances,  rough  woolen  comforters  embraced  the 
neck  and  hid  the  absence  of  linen.  Heavy 
brogans  and  short  torn  trousers  it  was  impossible 
to  hide.  .  .  .  Seven  years  ago  these  men  were 
raising  corn  and  cotton  under  the  whip  of  the 
overseer.  To-day  they  are  raising  points  of  order 
and  questions  of  privilege." 

Radical  Northerners  may  have  seen  poetic 
justice  in  the  situation  just  described,  but  the 
overturn  was  unquestionably  bad  for  the  economic 


CARPET-BAGGERS  51 

interests  of  South  Carolina.  However  good  his 
intentions — and  the  intentions  of  some  were  the 
best — an  untutored  black  man,  fresh  from  slavery 
in  the  Sea  Island  cotton  fields,  could  not  possibly 
be  a  satisfactory  legislator  or  even  citizen.  A 
reign  of  misgovernment  followed  enfranchisement 

i  period  not  quite  so  replete  in  pitched  battles, 
jut  in  its  financial  aspects  fully  as  deplorable  as 
hat  in  Louisiana.  During  the  six  years  from  1868 
x>  1874  the  public  debt  was  increased  by  about 
H4,000,000,  while  in  the  period  from  1860  to 
1874  the  total  valuation  of  property  decreased 
rom  $490,000,000  to  $141,000,000.  Much  of 
;his  decline  was  due  to  causes  similar  to  those 
obtaining  in  Louisiana,  yet  unquestionably  a 
arge  part  was  the  result  of  misgovernment. 

In  refurnishing  the  state  house  the  legislature 
replaced  $5  clocks  by  $600  ones;  $4  looking  glasses 
by  $600  mirrors;  $1  chairs  by  $60  chairs;  40 
cent  spittoons  by  $14  imported  china  cuspidors. 
A  free  restaurant  and  bar  for  the  use  of  members 
and  their  friends  was  kept  open  day  and  night, 
while  included  in  "legislative  supplies"  were 
such  items  as  baskets  of  champagne,  hams,  oysters, 
suspenders,  perfumes,  bonnets,  corsets,  palpita- 
;ors,  chemises,  garters,  and  a  metallic  coffin.* 
These  were  some  of  the  petty  steals.  State  bonds, 
the  public  printing,  railroad  charters,  and  public 
ands  figured  in  the  larger  ones.  The  public 
Drinting  bills  during  eight  years  of  Radical  rule 
exceeded  the  total  cost  of  printing  for  the  seventy- 
iight  preceding  years  by  $717,589.  The  total 
:axes  paid  by  all  the  members  of  one  of  the  legis- 
atures  is  said  to  have  been  only  $634  annually; 


52      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

67  of  the  98  negro  members  paid  none  at  all. 
Little  wonder  that  such  a  legislature  had  np  fear 
of  public  extravagance. 

Although  the  negroes  and  their  white  allies 
held  the  offices  and  were  the  beneficiaries  of  this 
reign  of  corruption,  the  state  was  far  from  being 
an  Elysium  for  the  freedmen.  The  Ku-Klux 
early  became  active,  and  against  them  the  negroes 
were  powerless  to  protect  themselves.  In  some 
instances  the  operations  of  the  Klans  were  justi 
fiable;  in  others  the  outrages  were  not  only  with 
out  extenuation  but  were  brutal  and  fiendish 
beyond  description.  Says  a  Democratic  histo 
rian  of  the  period: 

"Murders,  or  attempts  to  murder,  are  numer 
ous.  Whippings  are  without  number.  Probably 
the  most  cruel  and  cowardly  of  these  last  was  the 
whipping  of  Elias  Hill.  He  was  a  colored  man 
who  had,  from  infancy,  been  dwarfed  in  legs  and 
arms.  He  was  unable  to  use  either.  But  he 
possessed  an  intelligent  mind;  had  learned  to 
read;  and  had  acquired  an  unusual  amount  of 
knowledge  for  one  in  his  circumstances.  He  was 
a  Baptist  preacher.  He  was  highly  respected  for 
his  upright  character.  He  was  eminently  reli 
gious,  and  was  greatly  revered  by  the  people  of 
his  own  race.  It  was  on  this  ground  that  he  was 
visited  by  the  Ku-Klux,  brutally  beaten,  and 
dragged  from  his  house  into  the  yard,  where  he 
was  left  in  the  cold  at  night,  unable  to  walk  or 
crawl.  After  the  fiends  had  left,  his  sister  brought 
him  into  the  house.  Although  this  man  was  a 
Republican,  his  testimony  gave  evidence  of  the 
mildness  and  Christian  forbearance  of  his  char- 


CARPET-BAGGERS  53 

acter,  as  well  as  his  freedom  from  ill-will  toward 
the  white  race.  In  answer  to  a  question  as  to  his 
feelings  toward  the  whites,  he  replied  that  he 
had  good-will,  love,  and  affection  toward  them; 
but  that  he  feared  them." 

As  a  result  of  such  outrages  and  also  of  an  ever 
present  fear  that  a  Democratic  victory  would 
mean  a  return  to  slavery,  the  negroes,  despite 
flagrant  misgovernment,  remained  Republicans 
almost  to  a  man.  As  they  outnumbered  the 
whites  about  five  to  three,  they  invariably 
elected  the  Republican  candidates  for  state 
office,  no  matter  how  dishonest  or  disreputable. 
In  1868  R.  K.  Scott,  an  Ohio  carpet-bagger, 
was  elected  governor,  and  in  1870  was  re-elected. 
In  1872  he  was  succeeded  by  F.  J.  Moses,  a 
notorious  Jew,  who,  it  is  said,  had  won  the  favor 
of  the  blacks  by  dancing  at  their  balls. 

In  1874,  however,  Daniel  H.  Chamberlain,  a 
man  of  different  character,  was  elected.  Cham 
berlain  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  a 
graduate  of  Yale.  He  had  studied  law  at  Harvard 
and  had  served  as  a  lieutenant  in  a  colored  regi 
ment.  He  soon  made  it  evident  that  he  meant 
to  preserve  "the  civilization  of  the  Puritan  and 
the  Cavalier,  of  the  Roundhead  and  the  Hugue 
not."  He  set  his  face  like  flint  against  the  cor 
rupt  schemes  of  the  unscrupulous  element  of  his 
party,  and  by  a  series  of  courageous  acts  won  the 
admiration  of  the  North  and  high  encomiums 
from  many  Southerners.  Though  opposed  at 
every  step  by  ignorant  and  corrupt  associates,  he 
put  an  end  to  the  carnival  of  misrule  and  began 
the  regeneration  of  South  Carolina. 


54      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

In  most  states  the  period  of  Radical  govern 
ment  was  shorter  than  in  those  just  described. 
Where  the  white  population  was  largely  pre 
dominant,  the  negroes  and  their  white  associates 
were  never  in  control*  The  carpet-bag  govern 
ments  would  quickly  have  been  overthrown  by 
force  of  arms  had  it  not  been  for  the  protecting 
hand  of  the  Federal  government.  The  blacks, 
even  when  constituting  most  of  a  state's  militia, 
showed  themselves  totally  unable  to  hold  their 
own  in  physical  conflicts  with  the  more  master 
ful  race,  and  in  the  many  armed  combats  were 
almost  invariably  the  chief  sufferers.  Not  only 
were  Federal  troops  frequently  used  to  sustain 
tottering  state  governments,  but  congress  in 
1870  and  1871  passed  two  Enforcement  acts  for 
the  protection  of  the  negro's  political  and  civil 
rights  and  an  act  that  established  a  rigorous 
system  of  Federal  supervision  over  congressional 
elections,  which  remained  in  force  until  Cleve 
land's  second  term.  The  second  Enforcement 
Act,  generally  called  the  Ku-Klux  Act,  was  aimed 
q,t  the  secret  organizations  whose  activities  have 
already  been  described.  It  was  subsequently  set 
aside  as  unconstitutional,  but  under  its  supposed 
authority  President  Grant,  in  October,  1871, 
proclaimed  nine  counties  of  South  Carolina  in 
rebellion,  suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
and  sent  detachments  of  troops  that  arrested 
hundreds  of  persons,  a  few  of  whom  were~con- 
victed  and  imprisoned. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  protecting  hand  of 
the  Federal  government,  the  Radicals  gradually 
lost  their  hold  upon  the  South.  In  1869  they  lost 


CARPET-BAGGERS  55 

Tennessee;  in  1870,  Alabama,  North  Carolina, 
and  Georgia;  in  1873,  Texas;  in  1874,  Arkansas; 
and  in  1875,  Mississippi.  The  methods  employed 
by  the  party  in  opposition  to  accomplish  these 
results  were  not  always  above  reproach,  being 
too  often  a  compound  of  persuasion,  bribery, 
force,  and  fraud,  but  they  were  effective.  The 
passage  by  congress  of  numerous  amnesty  acts 
also  aided  the  Conservatives  by  enabling  their 
natural  leaders  once  more  to  participate  in  poli 
tics;  in  1872  only  about  750  persons  still  remained 
under  disabilities.  In  this  number  was  included 
Jefferson  Davis,  who  had  been  captured  and 
imprisoned  for  a  time  and  then  released  on  bail. 
With  the  "redemption"  of  Mississippi,  only 
three  Southern  states — -Florida,  Louisiana,  and 
South  Carolina — remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Radicals. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   END   OF  AN  ERA 

ULYSSES  S.  GRANT  was  inaugurated  president 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1869.  Eight  years  before 
he  had  been  a  leather  clerk  in  a  small  western 
town  at  a  salary  of  $600  a  year  and  had  behind 
him  a  record  of  failure  in  everything  he  had  under 
taken.  The  rapidity  of  his  rise  was  hitherto 
unprecedented  in  American  annals.  His  suc 
cess  was  due  to  military  genius  of  a  high  order; 
unfortunately  his  capacities  as  a  civil  ruler  did 
not  prove  equal  to  his  abilities  as  a  soldier.  Prior 
to  his  inauguration  he  had  never  held  an  office 
except  that  of  secretary  of  war  ad  interim,  and 
he  did  not  clearly  understand  the  workings  of 
our  political  system.  Although  a  keen  judge  of 
military  men,  as  is  evidenced  by  his  selecting 
such  officers  as  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  he  had  no 
skill  in  choosing  civil  subordinates  and  advisers. 
Honest  himself,  he  was  unable  to  detect  dis 
honesty  in  others.  His  confidence  was  frequently 
abused  by  pretended  friends,  who  brought  him 
into  disrepute,  but  whom,  with  misguided  fidelity, 
he  was  unwilling  "to  desert  under  fire." 

Grant  began  his  administration  with  the  as 
sumption  that  the  presidency  was  a  sort  of  per 
sonal  possession  given  him  by  the  people  to 
56 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  57 

manage  as  he  thought  proper.  He  ignored  the 
party  leaders  in  selecting  his  first  cabinet  and 
preserved  a  sphinx-like  silence  until  his  nomina 
tions  were  sent  to  the  senate.  They  occasioned 
no  little  surprise,  for  the  list  was  mainly  composed 
of  men  whose  names  had  not  even  been  suggested 
in  the  public  prints.  Adolph  E.  Borie,  his  choice 
for  the  post  of  secretary  of  the  navy,  was  a 
citizen  of  Philadelphia,  a  personal  friend,  so 
obscure  politically  that  the  Pennsylvania  sena 
tors  both  professed  that  they  had  never  even 
heard  of  him.  For  secretary  of  the  treasury  the 
president  was  anxious  to  secure  a  successful 
business  man,  and  it  happened  that  he  greatly 
admired  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  a  canny  mer 
chant  prince  of  New  York.  Stewart's  name  was 
sent  to  the  senate,  but  it  was  soon  discovered 
that  he  was  rendered  ineligible  by  a  law  prohibit 
ing  any  one  from  holding  the  portfolio  who  was 
interested  in  "the  business  of  trade  or  commerce." 
After  vainly  trying  to  get  congress  to  modify 
the  law,  Grant  substituted  George  S.  Boutwell, 
a  member  of  the  house  from  Massachusetts. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  who  was  appointed  secre 
tary  of  state,  was  a  member  of  congress  who  had 
been  so  active  in  forwarding  the  president's 
military  career  that  he  was  said  to  "have  Grant 
on  the  brain."  Although  a  man  of  natural  parts, 
he  did  not  possess  the  culture  usually  supposed  a 
requisite  in  one  who  must  deal  with  diplomats. 
When  one  disgruntled  Republican  statesman 
suggested  that  the  position  demanded  a  knowl 
edge  of  French,  a  second  retorted  that  at  least 
it  required  a  knowledge  of  one's  own  language. 


58      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

But  Washburne's  appointment  proved  to  be 
merely  complimentary;  after  a  week's  incum 
bency  he  resigned  to  accept  the  French  mission. 
There,  notwithstanding  linguistic  deficiencies, 
he  did  himself  and  his  country  high  honor,  being 
the  only  foreign  representative  who  dared  to 
remain  in  Paris  during  the  red  days  of  the  Com 
mune.  To  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  Wash- 
burne's  resignation,  Grant  dragged  from  retire 
ment  Hamilton  Fish,  a  former  governor  of  New 
York  and  United  States  senator,  who,  contrary 
to  public  expectation,  proved  one  of  the  most 
successful  secretaries  of  state  the  country  has 
had.  The  other  members  of  the  cabinet  were 
Jacob  D.  Cox,  secretary  of  the  interior;  John  A. 
J.  Creswell,  postmaster-general;  John  A.  Rawlins, 
secretary  of  war;  and  E.  Rockwood  Hoar, 
attorney-general.  Hoar  was  a  Free-soil  jurist 
from  Massachusetts.  The  selection  was  a  praise 
worthy  one,  but  he  was  soon  forced  out  of  the 
cabinet  because  he  seemed  not  to  admit  the 
right  of  senators  to  speak  in  regard  to  appoint 
ments.  Prior  to  his  retirement  he  had  been 
nominated  to  the  supreme  bench,  but  the  senate 
had  refused  to  confirm  him.  "What  could  you 
expect  when  you  had  snubbed  seventy  senators?" 
asked  a  friend  by  way  of  condolence. 

One  of  the  president's  first  tasks  was  to  secure 
a  modification  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act.  A 
bill  for  its  repeal  at  the  last  session  of  congress 
had  failed,  chiefly  because  the  senate  wished 
to  retain  the  act  for  use  as  a  lever.  But  Grant 
said:  "Because  you  found  it  necessary  to  put  a 
curb  bit  in  the  mouth  of  one  horse  is  no  reason 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  59 

that  you  should  try  to  put  it  on  another."  He 
brought  the  legislators  to  terms  by  giving  them 
to  understand  that  until  his  wishes  were  com 
plied  with  he  would  retain  the  Johnson  appointees. 
The  act  was  radically  amended,  but  was  not 
finally  repealed  until  the  first  administration  of 
Grover  Cleveland,  having  long  been  in  a  con 
dition  of  "innocuous  desuetude.'* 

The  first  year  of  Grant's  presidency  was  sig 
nalized  by  the  completion  of  a  transcontinental 
railway.  The  enterprise  had  been  authorized 
by  congress  in  1862.  As  important  unifying  and 
military  results  were  certain  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  road,  the  central  government  gave  it 
much  financial  assistance.  Not  only  was  it 
granted  a  free  right  of  way  through  the  public 
domain,  but  it  received  twenty  sections  of  land 
for  each  mile  of  track  and  loans  aggregating  up 
wards  of  $27,000,000. 

When  the  two  construction  companies,  one 
working  from  the  east  and  the  other  from  the 
west,  met  at  Promontory  Point  near  Ogden, 
Utah,  the  last  rail  was  laid  (May  10,  1869)  with 
impressive  ceremonies,  and  the  event  was  cele 
brated  all  over  the  country.  The  building  of  the 
line  across  the  great  plains  and  mountains  was 
an  important  step  in  winning  the  last  West  to 
settlement  and  civilization.  Branch  lines  were 
built  north  and  south  from  the  main  line,  while 
other  transcontinental  roads  were  soon  begun. 
In  time  the  blanket  Indian,  the  trapper,  and  the 
teeming  buffalo  gave  way  to  miners,  cowboys, 
and  great  herds  of  long-horned  cattle. 

Unfortunately  the  process  of  financing  the  road 


60      RECONSTRUCTION  ANtf  UNION 

had  many  sordid  features  that  dimmed  the  luster 
of  the  achievement.  A  group  of  financiers  hold 
ing  a  majority  of  the  stock  in  the  enterprise  organ 
ized  a  company  called  the  Credit  Mobilier,  and 
then,  in  their  capacity  as  stockholders  in  the 
road,  proceeded  to  vote  to  themselves  as  con 
trollers  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  a  contract  to  build 
and  equip  at  an  enormous  profit  a  large  part  of 
the  road.  This  in  itself  was  highly  reprehensible, 
though  typical  of  the  then  developing  methods  of 
"high  finance."  Worse  was  to  come.  Fearing 
congressional  interference,  one  of  the  financiers, 
Oakes  Ames,  a  member  of  the  house  from  Massa 
chusetts,  proceeded  to  distribute  (1867-68)  at 
extremely  low  prices  shares  in  the  Credit  Mo 
bilier  among  his  congressional  associates,  placing 
them,  he  wrote,  "where  they  will  do  the  most 
good  to  us."  The  corrupt  nature  of  such  a  trans 
action  was  not  so  well  understood  then  as  now; 
a  number  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  public 
life  accepted  the  covert  bribe,  but  the  facts  did 
not  become  public  property  until  some  years 
later. 

Grant  failed  miserably  in  an  ill-advised  at 
tempt  to  secure  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo, 
but  his  administration  was  more  fortunate  in 
negotiations  regarding  damages  inflicted  by  the 
Alabama  and  other  Confederate  cruisers  fitted 
out  in  British  ports.  The  attempts  of  Charles 
Francis  Adams  to  obtain  an  adjustment  of  our 
claims  had  failed,  but  the  feeling  against  England 
was  still  bitter,  and  there  existed  a  strong  deter 
mination  to  exact  satisfaction.  When  in  January, 
1869,  Reverdy  Johnson  concluded  in  London  a 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  61 

convention  that  seemed  practically  to  waive  our 
claims,  it  was  deemed  so  unsatisfactory  that  the 
senate  decisively  rejected  it  by  a  vote  of  54  to  one 
(April  13,  1869).  In  opposing  it,  Senator  Sum- 
ner  voiced  the  public  sentiment  on  the  subject 
in  a  speech  which  won  him  for  once  genuine 
popularity.  He  estimated  that  England  owed 
the  United  States  $15,000,000  for  direct  indi 
vidual  losses  inflicted  by  the  Alabama  and  simi 
lar  cruisers,  and  upwards  of  $2,000,000,000  for 
indirect  damages  to  our  merchant  marine  and 
on  account  of  prolongation  of  the  war  by  too 
hasty  recognition  of  belligerent  rights  and  fail 
ure  to  observe  neutrality  obligations.  He  thought 
that  by  way  of  reparation  England  ought  to 
cede  us  Canada.  The  speech  "set  almost  all 
Americans  to  swinging  their  hats  for  eight  or 
nine  days,  and  made  every  Englishman  double 
up  his  fists  and  curse  every  time  he  thought  of 
it  for  several  weeks."  As  Sumner  was  head  of 
the  senate  committee  on  foreign  relations,  his 
speech  was  in  a  sense  official  and  gave  ground  for 
serious  reflection  in  England.  In  that  country 
there  already  existed  a  well-founded  fear  that  in 
case  England  should  become  involved  in  war  the 
United  States  would  pay  her  back  in  her  own  coin 
by  allowing  the  fitting  out  of  cruisers  to  prey  on 
her  commerce. 

In  his  message  of  December  5,  1870,  the  presi 
dent  incorporated  a  paragraph  furnished  by  Fish 
recommending  that  congress  authorize  the  as 
sumption  of  private  claims  by  the  United  States 
so  that  the  government  would  "have  the  respon 
sible  control  of  all  the  demands  against  Great 


62      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Britain."  The  moment  for  this  ominous  lan 
guage  was  well  chosen,  for  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  was  in  progress,  and  there  existed  a  possi 
bility  that  England  might  become  involved. 
The  outcome  was  a  joint  high  commission  which 
labored  for  two  months  and  produced  the  Treaty 
of  Washington,  signed  May  8,  1871.  The  treaty 
provided  for  a  mixed  commission  to  deal  with  the 
claims  of  Canada  against  the  United  States  and 
referred  the  Alabama  claims  and  a  dispute  con 
cerning  the  northwestern  boundary  to  tribunals 
of  arbitration.  The  mixed  commission  did  not 
complete  its  labors  until  1877,  when  it  mulcted 
the  United  States  $5,500,000  for  alleged  illegal 
fishing  in  Canadian  waters.  The  northwestern 
boundary  dispute  was  decided  five  years  earlier 
by  the  German  emperor  in  favor  of  the  United 
States. 

The  tribunal  for  the  adjustment  of  the  Ala 
bama  claims  met  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  De 
cember  15,  1871.  It  consisted  of  five  persons 
appointed  respectively  by  President  Grant, 
Queen  Victoria,  the  king  of  Italy,  the  emperor 
of  Brazil,  and  the  president  of  the  Swiss  Republic. 

The  presentation  by  the  American  agent,  J.  C. 
Bancroft  Davis,  of  enormous  claims  for  indirect 
damages  caused  great  excitement  in  England, 
and  for  a  time  threatened  to  wreck  the  arbi 
tration.  But  the  claims  were  not  pressed  and 
ultimately  were  excluded  by  the  tribunal.  Con 
sideration  of  direct  and  individual  claims  then 
proceeded.  A  verdict  was  finally  rendered  that 
Great  Britain  had  been  remiss  in  neutrality 
duties  as  regarded  the  cruisers  Alabama,  Shen- 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  63 

andoah,  and  Florida.  By  way  of  damages  the 
,  tribunal  awarded  (September  2,  1872)  the  sum 
of  $15,500,000.  The  British  arbitrator,  Lord 
Alexander  Cockburn,  a  nephew  of  an  admiral 
little  loved  in  the  United  States,  bitterly  opposed 
the  award.  It  was  far  from  popular  in  England, 
but  the  ministry  accepted  it,  and  the  damages 
were  duly  paid. 

President  Grant  had  not  been  long  in  office 
before  his  independent  policy  broke  down.  His 
attempt  to  annex  Santo  Domingo  roused  the  bitter 
opposition  of  Senator  Sumner,  and  in  his  anxiety 
I  to  secure  votes  for  the  treaty  of  annexation  the 
president  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the 
politicians.  The  least  reputable  Republicans, 
such  as  Conkling  of  New  York,  Cameron  of 
Pennsylvania,  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Patterson  of  South  Carolina,  gained  control  of 
him  and  became  the  dispensers  of  patronage. 
Under  their  influence  he  adopted  the  policy  of 
dealing  rigorously  with  the  South,  and  he  also 
lost  sympathy  with  civil  service  reform,  a  move 
ment  to  which  he  at  first  gave  a  half-hearted  sup 
port.  His  ultimate  conclusion  on  the  matter  was 
:hat  "there  are  two  humbugs  .  .  .  one  is  Civil 
Service  Reform,  the  other  reformers."  As  a  rule, 
lis  political  opinions  were  hazy,  and  personal 
riends  of  doubtful  antecedents  too  often  deter- 
nined  his  policy  to  their  own  benefit  and  the  public 
scandal.  In  the  first  year  of  his  administration, 
allowing  himself  to  be  entertained  by  the  sub- 
le  Jay  Gould  and  the  notorious  "Jim"  Fiske, 
le  narrowly  escaped  being  unwittingly  a  pawn 
n  the  game  to  corner  gold  that  resulted  in 


64      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

the  famous   financial   flurry    known   as   "Black 
Friday." 

The  first  impulse  toward  organized  opposition 
within  the  Republican  ranks  against  the  regime 
at  Washington  originated  in  Missouri,  where 
the  proscription  and  disfranchisement  of  Con 
federate  sympathizers  had  taken  an  extreme  form. 
In  1870  liberal  Republicans,  under  the  leadership  1 
of  Senator  Carl  Schurz  and  others,  joined  with  the 
Democrats,  and,  despite  presidential  opposition, 
carried  the  elections  and  modified  the  constitu 
tion  in  the  interest  of  peace  and  conciliation. 
The  movement  awakened  favorable  echoes  in 
other  quarters,  and  in  January,  1872,  the  Mis 
souri  Liberals  felt  emboldened  to  issue  a  call 
for  a  national  convention  at  Cincinnati  for  the 
purpose  of  nominating  candidates  for  the  coming 
presidential  election. 

The  persons  who  met  at  Cincinnati  (May  1, 
1872)  were  moved  by  widely  different  motives, 
including  tariff  reform,  civil  service  reform, 
opposition  to  centralization,  to  the  Radical  South 
ern  policy,  and  to  President  Grant  personally. 
Among  those  present  were  David  A.  Wells, 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  Carl  Schurz,  David  Davis, 
Lyman  Trumbull,  Horace  Greeley,  Murat  Hal- 
stead,  Henry  Watterson,  and  Whitelaw  Reid. 
Schurz  became  permanent  chairman,  and  the 
platform  satisfied  the  demands  of  the  various 
classes  of  reformers  except  that  upon  the  question 
of  the  tariff  there  was  such  wide  difference  of 
opinion  that,  under  the  influence  of  Greeley,  a 
protectionist,  the  subject  was  remitted  to  "the 
people  in  their  congressional  districts  and  to  the 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  65 

decision  of  congress."  The  keenest  leaders  of  the 
movement  had  expected  to  bring  about  the  nom 
ination  of  Charles  Francis  Adams,  the  eminent 
diplomat  who  had  so  ably  represented  the  United 
States  at  the  Court  of  St.  James  during  the  Civil 
War  and  who  was  now  the  American  representa 
tive  at  the  Geneva  Convention.  But  their  plans 
went  awry;  on  the  seventh  ballot  there  was  a 
sudden  stampede  to  Horace  Greeley,  who  was 
nominated,  with  B.  Gratz  Brown  of  Missouri 
as  the  vice-presidential  candidate. 

In  July  the  Democrats  met  in  convention  at 
Baltimore,  and,  as  a  forlorn  hope,  accepted  the 
Liberal  Republican  candidates  and  platform. 
This  platform  solemnly  declared:  "We  pledge 
ourselves  to  maintain  the  Union  of  these  States, 
emancipation  and  enfranchisement,  and  to  oppose 
any  reopening  of  the  questions  settled  by  the 
Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Fifteenth  Amend 
ments."  In  adopting  such  a  pledge  the  Demo 
crats  went  exactly  counter  to  their  platform  of 
1868,  and  formally  confessed  defeat  upon  the  issue 
of  the  war  and  reconstruction. 

No  more  preposterous  candidacy  than  that  of 
Greeley  was  ever  put  before  the  American  people. 
He  was  not  a  believer  either  in  civil  service  reform 
or  in  tariff  reform — two  of  the  three  cardinal  ten 
ets  of  the  Liberal  Republican  movement.  No  man 
then  living  had  ever  said  more  bitter  things  of  the 
Democrats  and  the  South.  That  the  Democratic 
party  should  now  accept  him  as  their  candidate 
was  almost  beyond  belief.  Little  wonder  that 
The  Nation,  coining  a  new  political  phrase,  de 
clared  that  "Greeley  appears  to  be  'boiled  crow' 


66      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

to  more  of  his  fellow  citizens  than  any  other  can 
didate  for  office  in  this  or  any  other  age  of  which 
we  have  record."  Some  of  the  Liberal  Republi 
cans  ultimately  declared  for  Grant,  who  was 
renominated,  with  Senator  Henry  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts,  the  "Natick  Cobbler,"  for  vice- 
president.  Schurz  and  others  swallowed  their 
chagrin  and  supported  Greeley.  The  Democratic 
leaders  and  the  Democratic  organization,  in  the 
main,  gave  him  loyal  support,  one  factor  in  se 
curing  the  loyalty  of  the  South  being  the  fact  that 
Greeley  had  signed  the  bail-bond  of  Jefferson 
Davis. 

Greeley's  nomination  made  Grant's  success 
inevitable.  The  Republicans  brought  the  South 
ern  issue  to  the  forefront  and  made  effective  use  of 
the  cry,  "Grant  beat  Davis,  Greeley  bailed  him." 
To  hundreds  of  thousands  of  good  citizens  Grant's 
mistakes  seemed  venial  and  easily  pardoned  when 
they  recalled  the  thrills  with  which,  in  the  days 
when  patriots  had  despaired  of  ithe  Republic, 
they  had  received  the  news  of  Fort  Donelson, 
Vicksburg,  and  Appomattox.  More  than  Liberal 
Republican  or  Democrat  could  adduce  was  needed 
to  influence  men  who  had  marched  where  "  Ulysses 
led  the  van."  As  for  Greeley,  his  record,  personal 
characteristics,  and  childlike  naivete,  which  is 
discernible  even  in  his  portraits  and  statues,  lent 
themselves  to  ridicule  and  caricature.  Thomas 
Nast,  then  at  the  height  of  his  fame,  contributed 
powerfully  to  the  result  in  cartoons,  one  of  which 
represented  Greeley  eating  with  a  wry  face  from 
a  bowl  of  uncomfortably  hot  porridge  labeled 
"My  own  words  and  deeds."  Another  pictured 


THE  END   OF  AN  ERA  67 

the  candidate  at  his  country  home  at  Chappaqua 
sitting  well  out  upon  a  giant  limb,  which  he  was 
gravely  sawing  off — between  himself  and  the 
tree. 

A  tour  which  Greeley  made  in  the  "October 
States" — Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana — gave 
the  Republicans  temporary  uneasiness,  for  his 
name  had  long  been  a  household  word  in  Repub 
lican  families,  and  curiosity  drew  great  crowds 
to  see  and  hear  him.  But  the  elections  in  these 
states  dispelled  all  fears.  When  the  final  elections 
were  held  in  November,  it  was  found  that  Gre^gy 
was  one  of  the  worst  defeated  men  who  hadever 
run  for  the  presidency.  Grant  received  272  of 
the  338  electoral  votes  that  were  counted  and  a 
popular  majority  of  three-quarters  of  a  million. 
The  outcome  was  more  than  the  old  journalist 
could  bear.  Sorrow  over  the  recent  death  of  his 
wife,  attacks  upon  himself,  mortification  over  his 
defeat,  and  financial  troubles  combined  to  drive 
him  to  insanity  and  then  to  the  tomb.  In  that 
tragic  hour  men  forgot  his  failings,  and  over  his 
grave  honored  him  for  the  good  deeds  that  lived 
after  him. 

Seemingly  the  question  of  the  dispensation  of 

the  loaves  and  fishes  of  political  patronage  was 

settled  forever,  but  the  new  lease  of  power  into 

which  the  Republican  party  entered  was  destined 

to  be  a  stormy  one.    Speculation,  undue  railway 

construction,  and  other  causes  combined  in  Sep- 

i  tember,  1873,  to  produce  one  of  the  worst  finan- 

|  cial    panics    the    country    had    passed    through. 

The  panic  began  in  New  York  City  with  the  sudden 

failure  of  the  great  banking  house  of  Jay  Cooke  & 


68      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Company,  which  had  been  popularly  esteemed  as 
solid  as  the  hills.  Next  day  the  names  of  nineteen 
other  firms  that  were  unable  to  meet  their  obli 
gations  were  read  off  in  the  Stock  Exchange. 
All  over  the  country  banks  and  business  houses 
went  down.  The  president,  implored  by  financiers 
to  do  something  to  ease  the  money  market, 
authorized  the  release  of  about  $13,000,000  of 
idle  greenbacks  in  the  treasury  by  the  purchase 
of  bonds.  Otherwise  the  government  conserva 
tively  refrained  from  interfering  and  let  confidence 
and  credit  return  without  artificial  stimulus. 
When  congress  passed  a  bill  to  increase  the  cir 
culation  of  the  "battle-born,  blood-sealed"  green 
backs,  Grant  courageously  vetoed  it  (April  22, 
1874).  Railroad  building  almost  ceased,  many 
other  projects  were  stopped  for  lack  of  capital, 
and  there  was  no  real  revival  of  business  until 
1878.  It  was  a  gloomy  period  of  grinding  frugality, 
suffering,  and  despair. 

As  invariably  happens  in  such  cases,  the  panic 
reacted  unfavorably  upon  the  party  in  power. 
The  reaction  was  intensified  by  disclosures  of 
widespread  governmental  corruption.  During  the 
presidential  campaign  charges  of  gross  bribery 
by  the  Credit  Mobilier  had  been  made  by  the 
New  York  Sun;  when  Congress  reassembled,  it 
authorized  an  investigation.  The  investigation 
showed  that  the  charges  were  greatly  exaggerated, 
but  the  truth  proved  enough  to  shock  the  American 
people.  It  was  shown  that  Oakes  Ames  and 
another  member  of  the  house,  namely,  James 
Brooks  of  New  York,  had  been  guilty  of  dis 
guised  corruption;  they  were  censured  by  con- 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  69 

gress.  Both  died  soon  after.  Others  dishonor 
ably  involved  were  Vice-president  Colfax  and 
Senator  Patterson  of  New  Hampshire,  while  Henry 
Wilson,  the  vice-president-elect,  James  A.  Gar- 
field,  and  others  were  gravely  suspected  of  ques 
tionable  conduct. 

These  and  other  disclosures  had  a  far-reaching 
effect  upon  popular  opinion,  for  they  were  regarded 
as  confirming  the  worst  suspicions  of  corruption 
in  high  governmental  circles.  At  the  same 
session  of  congress  an  act  was  passed  increasing 
the  salaries  of  the  president,  cabinet  officers, 
judges  of  the  supreme  court,  senators,  and 
representatives,  the  increase  for  senators  and 
representatives  being  made  retroactive.  This 
so-called  "salary  grab"  or  "back  pay  steal'* 
"was  like  vitriol  on  the  raw  wound  of  public 
sentiment."  There  was  an  explosion  of  wrath  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other.  Finding 
attempts  at  justification  vain,  many  members 
hastened  to  return  their  back|  pay;  and  when 
the  new  congress  assembled,  it  hastily  reduced  all 
salaries  except  those  of  the  president  and  judges 
to  the  old  figures. 

As  the  congressional  elections  drew  near,  the 
people  were  in  a  different  mood  from  that  of  two 
years  before.  Stories  [of  "horrible  'scenes  of 
violence  and  bloodshed  throughout  the  South" 
proved  no  longer  effective.  A  great  "Tidal 
Wave"  swept  over  the  land.  Out  of  thirty-five 
states  in  which  elections  were  held  twenty-three 
went  Democratic;  even  such  rock-ribbed  Re 
publican  states  as  Wisconsin,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Massachusetts  repudiated  their  old  allegiance. 


70      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Only  a  comparative  handful  of  Republicans  were 
returned  to  the  house. 

The  dying  congress  in  its  final  session  performed 
one  notable  act.  In  the  same  month  that  Grant 
entered  office,  congress  had  passed  an  act  solemnly 
pledging  "the  payment  in  coin  or  its  equivalent 
of  all  the  obligations  of  the  United  States,"  except 
in  cases  expressly  providing  for  "lawful  money 
or  other  currency  than  gold  or  silver."  The  act 
also  pledged  the  government  "to  make  provision 
at  the  earliest  practicable  period  for  the  redemp 
tion  of  the  United  States  notes  in  coin."  Green- 
backism  was  again  rearing  its  head  in  the  West, 
but  the  Republican  majority,  under  the  leader 
ship  of  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  carried  through  a 
bill  providing  for  the  gradual  reduction  of  green 
backs  to  three  hundred  millions  and  naming  Janu 
ary  1,  1879,  as  the  date  on  which  the  government 
would  begin  to  redeem  such  notes  in  coin. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Benjamin  H.  Bristow,  an  energetic  Kentuckian, 
who  had  entered  office  in  1874,  a  corrupt  "Whiskey 
Ring"  was  unearthed,  which  for  years  had  been 
cheating  the  government  out  of  millions.  The 
chief  center  of  the  ring  was  in  St.  Louis;  it  was 
composed  of  distillers  and  revenue  officers  and 
had  confederates  even  in  Washington  itself.  Or- 
ville  E.  Babcock,  the  president's  own  secretary, 
was  implicated,  and  the  president  himself  had 
accepted  "with  oriental  nonchalance"  valuable 
presents  from  members  of  the  ring.  Grant  at 
first  wrote,  "Let  no  guilty  man  escape,"  but 
subsequently  he  unwisely  hampered  the  prosecu 
tion  and  practically  forced  Bristow  from  the 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  71 

cabinet.  Some  of  the  guilty  were  convicted  and 
imprisoned.  Babcock  was  acquitted,  but,  though 
the  jury's  verdict  was  "not  guilty,"  that  of  the 
country  was  "not  proven." 

Hardly  was  Babcock's  trial  over  when  a  com 
mittee  of  the  house  of  representatives  brought  in 
(March  2,  1876)  evidence  which  showed  con 
clusively  that  Secretary  of  War  Belknap  was 
guilty  of  malfeasance  in  office.  It  appeared  that 
he  and  his  wife  were  in  the  habit  of  selling  post- 
traderships  on  the  frontier.  Belknap  hastily 
resigned,  and  Grant  foolishly  accepted  his  resigna 
tion  "with  great  regret."  This  brought  up  the 
technical  question  of  whether  Belknap  was  now 
subject  to  impeachment,  and  as  a  result  the  guilty 
man  ultimately  escaped  punishment. 

These  disclosures,  with  others,  marked  "the 
nadir  of  national  disgrace."  Never  before  or 
since  has  corruption  been  so  prevalent.  When 
all  proper  allowance  is  made  for  the  morally 
unhealthy  atmosphere  which  follows  a  great  war, 
it  must  yet  be  said  that  much  of  the  corruption 
was  due  to  Grant's  unfit  ness  for  civil  office.  His 
failure  ought  to  stand  as  a  warning  to  those  foolish 
Americans  who  believe  that  any  man,  no  matter 
what  his  training,  is  capable  of  filling  any  office. 
In  the  minds  of  many  a  sincere  patriot,  proud  of 
the  record  of  a  hundred  years  but  humiliated  by 
the  fact  that  the  centennial  of  the  nation's  birth 
must  witness  so  much  corruption  in  high  places, 
there  arose  a  desire  for  a  political  change.  Had 
public  confidence  in  the  Democratic  party  equaled 
disgust  with  the  Republican,  there  would  have 
been  little  need  to  hold  an  election. 


72      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

For  the  first  time  since  1860  there  was  doubt  as 
to  who  would  be  the  Republican  standard  bearer. 
Sycophants  and  pretended  friends  urged  Grant 
to  stand  for  a  third  term,  but  the  idea  caused  so 
much  popular  clamor  that  he  issued  a  "declina 
tion  with  a  string  to  it."  A  quietus  was  finally 
put  upon  the  idea  by  the  passage  through  the 
house  of  representatives,  by  an  enormous  majority, 
of  a  resolution  declaring  that  any  attempt  to 
depart  from  the  precedent  established  by  Wash 
ington  "would  be  unwise,  unpatriotic,  and  fraught 
with  peril  to  our  free  institutions."  With  Grant 
out  of  the  way,  the  field  was  open  for  other  can 
didates.  Undoubtedly  the  man  most  favored  by 
reformers  was  Benjamin  H.  Bristow  of  Kentucky, 
whose  exposure  of  the  WThiskey  Ring  had  made  a 
great  impression.  But  Bristow  was  disliked  by  the 
politicians  and  by  the  president,  Grant's  pref 
erence,  though  it  carried  little  weight,  being  for 
Senator  Conkling  of  New  York.  Senator  Morton, 
the  capable  war  governor  of  Indiana,  had  many 
supporters,  but  James  G.  Blaine  of  Maine  seemed 
to  have  the  best  chance  of  securing  the  coveted 
honor.  He  possessed  a  magnetic  personality, 
and  had  attracted  much  attention  as  a  repre 
sentative  and  as  speaker  of  the  house.  In  the 
existing  "Rebel  Congress,"  as  Republicans  were 
fond  of  calling  it,  he  had  kept  himself  in  the  pub 
lic  eye  by  systematically  baiting  hot-tempered 
Southerners  into  bellowing  out  utterances  that 
could  be  used  as  party  capital.  But  Blaine  had 
the  bitter  enmity  of  Senator  Conkling,  whom  on 
a  memorable  occasion  he  had  forever  alienated 
by  comparing  him  to  a  turkey  gobbler.  His 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  73 

availability  in  the  eyes  of  reformers  was  vastly 
lessened  by  embarrassing  revelations  regarding 
his  alleged  improper  relations  while  speaker 
with  the  affairs  of  the  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith 
Railroad. 

The  Republican  convention  met  at  Cincinnati  on 
June  14th.  The  platform  temporized  as  regards 
resumption  of  specie  payments,  contained  a  weak 
indorsement  of  civil  service  reform,  declared  in 
favor  of  protection  and  against  polygamy,  com 
mended  Grant's  administration,  and  denounced 
the  Democratic  party  as  "being  the  same  in  char 
acter  and  spirit  as  when  it  sympathized  with 
treason."  Elaine's  name  was  presented  to  the 
convention  by  Colonel  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  who 
characterized  his  hero  as  a  "plumed  knight" 
who  "marched  down  the  halls  of  the  American 
congress  and  threw  his  shining  lance  full  and  fair 

:  against  the  brazen  forehead  of  every  traitor  to 
his  country  and  every  maligner  of  his  fair  repu- 

i  tation."   For  six  ballots  Elaine  led  by  a  large  mar 
gin,  but  on  the  fifth  ballot  a  movement  began  to 

i  set  in  toward  a  "favorite   son,"  Rutherford  B. 

!  Hayes  of  Ohio,  who  was  nominated  on  the  seventh 

i  ballot.    The  convention  then  selected  William  A. 

1  Wheeler  of  New  York  for  the  vice-presidential 
candidate. 

The  nomination  of  Hayes  occasioned  consider 
able  surprise,  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
the  convention  had  selected  an  honest,  capable 
man  on  whom  all  factions  could  unite.  He  had 
fought  in  the  Civil  War  as  a  volunteer  and  had 
received  four  honorable  wounds  and  a  brevet 
major-generalcy.  He  was  then  serving  a  third 


74      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

term  as  governor  of  Ohio,  and  in  each  campaign 
had  fought  stubbornly  for  sound  money.  In  his 
letter  of  acceptance  he  gave  great  pleasure  to 
reformers  by  denouncing  the  "spoils  system," 
and  he  ultimately  received  the  support  of 
many  of  the  Liberal  Republicans  including  Carl 
Schurz. 

The  Democratic  convention  assembled  in  St. 
Louis  on  the  29th  of  June.  Its  platform  con 
tained  a  scathing  denunciation  of  Republican 
misrule  and  can  be  roughly  summarized  in  the 
one  word  "Reform."  For  the  presidency  it 
selected  on  the  second  ballot  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
of  New  York,  and  for  the  vice-presidency  Senator 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana,  who  had  been 
Tilden's  chief  competitor  for  the  first  place  on  the 
ticket. 

Tilden's  rise  to  national  prominence  had  been 
rapid,  but  his  experience  in  local  politics  had 
been  long  and  varied,  for  at  an  early  age  he  had 
shown  great  precocity  in  such  matters  and 
had  been  a  protege  of  that  prince  of  politicians, 
Martin  Van  Buren.  He  had  won  great  distinction 
as  a  lawyer,  and  by  his  success  as  a  railroad  "re- 
organizer"  had  accumulated  a  fortune  of  several 
millions.  He  assisted  in  the  destruction  of  the 
notorious  Tweed  Ring,  and  in  1874,  despite  the 
opposition  of  Tammany  Hall,  was  elected  governor 
of  New  York.  As  governor  he  waged  a  success 
ful  war  upon  the  so-called  "  Canal  Ring,"  and  also 
reduced  the  rate  of  taxation.  Cold,  calculating, 
secretive,  a  "high  financier"  in  the  present  mean 
ing  of  the  term,  he  did  not  possess  the  qualities 
that  arouse  popular  enthusiasm,  but  he  enjoyed 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  75 

a  great  reputation  as  a  reformer  and  seemed  to  be 
the  man  of  the  hour. 

The  Democrats  endeavored  to  fight  the  cam 
paign  on  the  issue  of  reform,  and  the  speeches  of 
their  orators  contained  many  telling  allusions 
to  the  disgraceful  scandals  that  had  marked  Re 
publican  rule.  The  Republicans  craftily  strove  to 
shift  the  issue  by  "waving  the  bloody  shirt,"  dwell 
ing  upon  the  horrors  of  Andersonville,  harping 
upon  the  intimidation  of  negroes,  and  seeking  to 

lentify  the  Democratic  party  as  the  party  that 
had  brought  on  the  war.  Much  was  made  of  the 
conflicting  opinions  of  the  Democratic  candidates 
on  the  currency  question.  A  cartoon  of  the  day 
represented  the  party  as  a  double-headed  tiger, 
one  head  being  that  of  Tilden,  who  wore  a  collar 
labeled  "Contraction,"  the  other  that  of  Hen- 
dricks,  whose  collar  was  inscribed  "Inflation"; 
below  was  the  inscription:  "This  double-headed, 
double-faced  Tiger  can  be  turned  any  way  to 
gull  the  American  people."  Virulent  attacks 
were  also  made  on  Tilden's  war  record  and  on 
lis  career  as  a  railroad  "wrecker";  it  was  charged 
that  he  had  failed  to  make  full  and  fair  returns 
of  his  income  to  the  tax  assessors. 

The  returns  that  came  in  to  New  York  City 
on  the  night  of  November  7th  were  such  as  to 
indicate  the  election  of  Tilden.  The  Democratic 
newspapers  next  morning  were  unanimous  in 
slaiming  victory;  the  Republican  almost  equally 
unanimous  in  conceding  defeat.  The  Republican 
campaign  managers  in  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
went  to  bed  believing  themselves  beaten,  but 
some  keen  newspaper  men  on  the  New  York 


76      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Times  saw  possibilities  in  the  situation  and 
induced  the  managers  to  claim  the  election  of 
Hayes. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that  Tilden  was  un 
doubtedly  entitled  to  184  electoral  votes,  only  one 
less  than  a  majority,  and  that  Florida,  Louisiana, 
South  Carolina,  and  one  of  the  electoral  votes  of 
Oregon — 20  votes  in  all — were  in  doubt.  In 
Florida  the  result  was  very  close,  and  the  returns 
so  confused  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  with  cer 
tainty  which  party  really  deserved  the  decision, 
but  the  state  returning  board,  a  majority  of  whom 
were  Republicans,  on  the  plea  of  intimidation  and 
fraud,  threw  out  enough  precincts  and  counties 
to  give  the  Republican  electors  substantial  ma 
jorities.  In  Louisiana  the  Democratic  electors 
received  majorities  of  several  thousand  on  the 
face  of  the  returns.  But  there  had  been  whole 
sale  intimidation  of  negro  voters  in  some  par 
ishes.  In  East  Feliciana,  for  example,  there 
was  not  a  Republican  vote,  whereas  two  years 
before  there  had  been  1,688.  The  state  return 
ing  board,  composed  entirely  of  Republicans, 
threw  out  enough  returns  to  give  the  Repub 
lican  elector  lowest  on  the  list  a  majority  of  ovec» 
three  thousand.  In  South  Carolina  there  hacN 
been  intimidation  of  negroes  by  white  rifle  clubs, 
but  the  Republican  electors  received  a  majority 
on  the  face  of  the  returns.  Their  election  was 
certified  by  the  board  of  state  canvassers,  but  the 
Democrats  contested  the  result.  In  Oregon  all 
of  the  Republican  electoral  candidates  received 
majorities,  but  as  one  of  them  was  a  postmaster, 
the  Democrats  asserted  that  he  was  disqualified 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  77 

from  acting.  In  accordance  with  state  law,  he 
remedied  the  defect  by  resigning  the  postmaster- 
ship  and  was  reappointed  elector  by  his  associates 
on  the  ticket,  but  the  Democratic  governor  gave 
a  certificate  of  election  to  one  of  the  minority 
candidates.  Ultimately  there  were  three  returns 
from  Florida,  four  from  Louisiana,  two  from 
South  Carolina,  and  two  from  Oregon.1 

The  dispute  aroused  tremendous  excitement. 
Threats  of  bloodshed  were  freely  uttered.  Parti 
sans  of  Tilden  seemed  particularly  determined. 
In  places  Tilden  and  Hendricks  "minute  men" 
were  enrolled.  It  was  noticeable,  however,  that 
it  was  the  Northern  Democrats  who  did  the  most 
talking;  their  Southern  brethren,  having  once 
before  been  misled  and  left  in  the  lurch,  were  more 
conservative.  In  a  caucus  of  Democratic  members 
of  congress  Benjamin  Hill  of  Georgia  referred 
cuttingly  to  a  section  of  the  party  that  was  "in 
vincible  in  peace  and  invisible  in  war,"  and 
hinted  that  those  who  were  counseling  a  resort 
to  arms  had  "no  conception  of  the  conservative 
influence  of  a  15 -inch  shell  with  the  fuse  in  proc 
ess  of  combustion."  Fortunately  the  country 
at  large  had  no  desire  to  experience  the  horrors 
of  another  war,  and  cool-headed  patriotic  men 
on  both  sides  desired  that  the  dispute  should  be 
settled  peaceably. 

It  was  soon  seen  that  the  crux  of  the  contest 
lay  in  the  power  to  count  and  declare  the  electoral 
vote.  Unfortunately  the  constitution  merely 
provides  that  "the  President  of  the  Senate  shall, 

1  For  details  of  these  contests  see  Haworth,  The  Hayes- 
Tilden  Election,  pp.  57-156. 


78      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Reprev 
sentatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted."  Upon  the  interpretation 
of  the  last  ambiguous  clause  seemed  to  hinge  the 
question  of  who  was  to  be  the  next  president 
of  the  United  States.  If,  as  some  Republicans 
contended,  the  clause  meant  "counted  by  the 
president  of  the  senate,"  then  there  was  little 
doubt  that  the  Republican  president  pro  tempore, 
Thomas  W.  Ferry  (Wilson,  the  vice-president, 
had  died),  would  open  and  count  the  Republican 
returns  and  declare  Hayes  elected  by  a  majority 
of  one.  If,  as  the  Democrats  contended,  the 
counting  was  to  be  done  under  direction  of  the 
two  houses,  then  a  deadlock  would  probably 
ensue.  In  this  case  the  choice  of  a  president  would 
be  thrown  into  the  Democratic  house,  that  of  a 
vice-president  into  the  Republican  senate. 

Ultimately  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  houses 
evolved  a  plan  for  an  extra-constitutional  com 
mission  which  was  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of 
the  disputed  returns.  Neither  Hayes  nor  Tilden 
favored  the  plan,  and  a  majority  of  the  Repub 
licans  in  congress  opposed  it;  but  the  country 
at  large  approved  it,  and  an  act  creating  the 
commission  became  a  law  (January  29,  1877). 
The  decisions  of  the  commission  were  to  be  final 
unless  overruled  by  the  separate  vote  of  both 
houses.  The  commission  was  to  consist  of  five 
representatives,  five  senators,  and  five  associate 
justices  of  the  supreme  court.  In  accordance 
with  an  agreement  reached  by  the  committee, 
the  house  appointed  three  Democrats  and  two 
Republicans,  the  senate  two  Democrats  and 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  79 

three  Republicans.  The  act  designated  two  Demo 
cratic  and  two  Republican  justices  and  provided 
that  they  should  name  a  fifth. 

It  was  expected  by  the  Democrats  that  the 
fifth  judge  would  be  David  Davis  of  Illinois. 
Davis  had  received  his  appointment  from  Lincoln, 
but  now  had  Democratic  leanings.  He  was  a 
fat  man,  of  size  so  vast  that  it  was  said  that  he 
had  to  be  "surveyed  for  a  pair  of  trousers."  His 
disinclination  to  accept  a  thankless  task  accorded 
with  his  dimensions.  At  the  crucial  moment  a 
combination  of  Illinois  Democrats  and  Independ 
ents  elected  him  to  a  seat  in  the  Federal  senate, 
and  this  gave  him  a  convenient  excuse  for  evading 
the  work  of  arbitration.  The  choice  for  the  fifth 
judge  then  fell  upon  Joseph  P.  Bradley  of  New 
Jersey.  Bradley  had  been  appointed  as  a 
Republican,  but  he  was  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  Radicals,  and  was  the  most  accept 
able  to  the  Democrats  of  any  of  the  remaining 
i  justices. 

This  choice  proved  to  be  decisive.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  commission  acted  as  partisans  rather 
than  as  judges,  and  on  all  essential  points  Bradley 
voted  with  the  Republicans.  Despite  the  efforts 
of  some  disgruntled  Democrats  to  prevent  by  fili 
bustering  the  completion  of  the  count,  announce 
ment  of  the  election  of  Hayes  and  Wheeler  was 
?ormally  made  by  the  president  of  the  senate  on 
:he  early  morning  of  March  2nd,  and  after 
nonths  of  anxiety  the  greatest  contest  for  an 
elective  office  in  the  history  of  popular  government 
vas  peacefully  concluded.  As  the  4th  of  March 
ell  upon  Sunday,  Hayes  was  secretly  sworn  into 


80      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

office  at  the  White  House  on  the  night  of  the 
3rd,  and  on  the  5th  was  formally  inaugurated 
at  the  Capitol. 

The  outcome  caused  great  dissatisfaction  among 
Democrats,  but  a  bitter  contest  which  might 
have  leveled  the  foundations  of  the  Republic 
had  been  settled  without  a  resort  to  arms.  The 
result  was  acquiesced  in,  and  though  the  enmities 
engendered  by  the  controversy  were  to  linger 
long  in  American  public  life,  they  were  finally 
to  disappear  without  leaving  any  appreciable 
scar  upon  the  body  politic.  It  was  a  happy  solu 
tion  of  a  difficult  situation. 

A  delicate  task  that  confronted  the  new  presi 
dent  on  the  threshold  of  office  was  that  of  adjusting 
affairs  in  the  South.     In  Louisiana  and  South 
Carolina  dual    governments  existed,  and    peace 
between  the  factions   had   been  preserved  only 
by  the  presence  of  Federal  troops.     In  the  last 
days  of  the  electoral  count  certain  Republican 
leaaers  had  secretly  promised  that  if  filibustering 
would   cease,  Hayes,   upon  becoming  president, 
would  withdraw  the  troops  and  allow  the  carpet 
bag  governments  to  totter  to  their  fall.     Hayes 
was  not  a  party  to  this  bargain,  but  he  seems  to 
have  felt  himself  bound  by  it,  and  besides  was 
r  personally  inclined  to  think  that  for  the  Federal 
j   government  to   cease  its   interference  would  be 
i   the  wisest  course.    In  less  than  two  months  after 
I  the   inauguration    the   troops    were   withdrawn; 
\the  carpet-bag  governments  vanished  into  thin 
air. 

Thus  ended  the  last  scene  in  Reconstruction. 
It  had  been  a  lurid  drama,  but  one  that  may  be 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  81 

said  to  have  been  inevitable.  A  great  war  had 
resulted  in  the  triumph  of  certain  principles  which 
the  world  is  now  agreed  were  just  and  right.  The 
problem  which  then  presented  itself  was  the 
preservation  of  these  principles  that  had  been 
vindicated  upon  the  battlefield.  One  policy — 
the  milder  one — gave  some  promise  of  achieving 
that  result;  whether  it  would  have  done  so  is 
still  a  matter  of  debate.  A  harsher  policy,  one 
that  did  not  require  superhuman  magnanimity, 
assured  the  result  beyond  reasonable  doubt  and 
appeared,  in  the  eyes  of  optimists,  to  promise 
other  benefits.  The  latter  policy  was  adopted. 
It  produced  some  lamentable  results,  but  the 
nation  was  safely  tided  over  the  crisis,  and  the 
fruits  of  the  war  were  secured.  It  is  easy  now  to 
point  out  the  failures  of  Reconstruction.  They 
are  obvious.  "Probably  military  rule  until  the 
rights  of  the  freecTmen  had  been  established  would 
have  been  better  than  negro  suffrage,  but  it  is. 
certain  that  military  rule  or  any  other  Jfclicy 
would  have  failed.  Had  the  Johnson  plan 
"been  followed,  there  would  inevitably  have  been 
disappointments  of  one  kind  or  another,  and 
historians  might  now  be  chiding  Charles  Sumner 
and  Thaddeus  Stevens  for  their  childlike  faith 
in  human  nature. 

The  Reconstruction  era  is  a  dark  period,  and 
yet,  speaking  comparatively,  it  cannot  be  said 
that  the  treatment  of  the  South  was  harsh. 
"Imaginary  comparisons  with  other  civilized 
governments  are  sometimes  useful,"  writes  the 
historian  Rhodes.  "It  seems  to  me  certain  that 
in  1865-1867  England  or  Prussia  under  similar 


82      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

circumstances  would  not  so  summarily  have  given 
the  negroes  full  political  rights.  More  than  likely 
they  would  have  studied  the  question  scientifi 
cally  through  experts  and  therefore  could  not 
have  avoided  the  conclusion  that  intelligence 
and  the  possession  of  property  must  precede  the 
grant  of  suffrage.  Their  solution  of  the  difficulty 
would  therefore  have  been  more  in  the  interest 
of  civilization.  The  words  of  Parkman,  'The 
lion  had  had  his  turn,  and  now  the  fox,  the  jackal, 
and  the  wolf  took  theirs,'  could  not  have  been 
applied.  On  the  other  hand,  with  the  ideas 
which  prevail  in  those  countries  concerning 
rebellion  against  an  established  government, 
England  and  Prussia  would  undoubtedly  have 
executed  Jefferson  Davis  and  others  and  con 
fiscated  much  of  the  southern  land.  The  good 
nature  and  good  sense  of  the  American  people 
preserved  them  from  so  stern  a  policy,  and  as 
a  choice  of  evils  (since  mistakes  it  seems  were 
sure  to  be  made)  the  imposition  of  negro  suf 
frage  was  better  than  proscriptions  and  the 
creation  of  an  Ireland  or  a  Poland  at  our  very 
door." 

Dread  of  negro  domination  developed  a  South 
solidly  Democratic.  Since  1876  not  one  of  the 
eleven  seceded  states  has  ever  cast  its  electoral 
votes  for  a  Republican  candidate.  In  places 
where  the  negro  population  was  predominant 
in  numbers,  force,  intimidation,  and  fraud  were 
freely  resorted  to  by  the  whites,  being  excused 
on  the  ground  of  necessity.  But  it  was  soon  dis 
covered  that  such  methods  reacted  upon  the 
whites  themselves.  So  the  stronger  race  set  about 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  83 

finding  a  method  of  suppressing  the  negro  vote 
without  coming  into  conflict  with  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment,  which  forbids  discrimination  because 
of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

In  1890  Mississippi  led  the  way  with  a  consti 
tutional  provision  that  every  elector  "shall  bo. 
able  to  read  any  section  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  State;  or  he  shall  be  able  to  understand  the 
same  when  read  to  him,  or  to  give  a  reasonable . 
interpretation  thereof."  As  the  registration1 
officers  are  almost  invariably  white  men,  it  is 
evident  that  this  "understanding  clause"  affords 
a  means  of  admitting  illiterate  white  voters  and 
excluding  the  same  class  of  negroes.  Several 
other  states  have  since  adopted  this  or  a  similar 
plan  of  steering  between  "the  Scylla  of  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment  and  the  Charybdis  of 
negro  domination."  Louisiana,  for  example, 
adopted  in  1898  property  and  educational  qualifi 
cations,  but  as  loopholes  for  illiterate  poor  whites 
of  foreign  birth  incorporated  a  "naturalization 
clause"  and  for  those  of  native  birth  a  "grand 
father  clause."  No  citizen  of  foreign  birth  who 
was  naturalized  prior  to  January  1,  1898,  was  to 
be  denied  the  suffrage,  and  no  citizen  of  native 
birth  who  was  on  or  prior  to  January  1,  1867,  a 
voter,  or  who  was  a  son  or  grandson  of  such  a 
voter,  was  to  be  excluded  from  the  polls.  All 
such  persons  must,  however,  register  prior  to 
September  1,  1898,  and  neither  loophole  is  avail 
able  for  illiterate  poor  whites  who  have  become 
of  age  since  that  date.  As  only  a  few  Northern 
states  allowed  the  negro  the  ballot  in  1867,  the 
number  of  negroes  who  can  take  advantage  of  the 


84      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

"grandfather  clause"  is  negligible.  The  whole 
number  of  registered  negro  voters  in  the  state 
was  reduced  from  127,000  in  1896  to  5,300  in 
1900.  The  disfranchising  laws  have  thus  far 
stood  judicial  tests,  and,  though  they  have  greatly 
diminished  the  electorate  in  several  states,  con 
gress  has  not  seen  fit  to  decrease  any  state's 
representation  in  congress  as  provided  by  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment. 

In  practice,  the  negro  no  longer  plays  an  active 
part  in  Southern  politics,  though  he  serves  as  a 
convenient  bogie  for  Southern  politicians.  Even 
many  negroes  who  are  qualified  to  vote  find  it 
expedient  not  to  attempt  to  do  so.  As  regards 
civil  and  social  rights,  the  reaction  against  the 
negro  has  not  been  so  radical,  but  it  has  been 
marked.  Several  of  the  Reconstruction  acts, 
including  a  new  Civil  Rights  Bill-passed  in  1875, 
have  been  held  unconstitutional  either  wholly  or 
in  part,  for  the  supreme  court  has  tended  to 
interpret  the  war  amendments  more  strictly  than 
their  framers  probably  intended.  In  the  South 
the  negro  is  forced  to  ride  in  separate  railway 
coaches  known  as  "Jim-crow  cars,"  and  is  ex 
cluded  from  white  hotels,  theaters,  and  other 
places  of  a  semi-public  character.  Some  states 
show  a  disposition  to  discriminate  against  him 
as  regards  provision  for  public  education;  negro- 
phobes  even  advocate  depriving  him  of  educa 
tional  advantages  altogether.  In  defense  of  such 
acts  they  point  to  the  fact  that  the  negro  pays 
comparatively  little  in  taxes,  but  they  forget  that 
he  does  much  of  the  work  of  the  South  and  that 
the  real  incidence  of  a  large  part  of  the  taxes  falls 


THE  END  OF  AN  ERA  85 

upon  his  shoulders.  Economically  and  morally 
the  negro  has  made  commendable  progress.  The 
number  of  thrifty,  law-abiding  negroes  is  larger 
than  is  generally  supposed,  for  unfortunately  it 
is  the  lazy,  criminal  class  who  are  most  in  evi 
dence.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  a  race 
cannot  be  civilized  in  a  day.  Nine  centuries 
elapsed  between  the  time  when  our  Teutonic  an 
cestors  destroyed  the  Roman  Empire  and  the 
time  when  they  had  become  sufficiently  leavened 
by  a  Christian  civilization  to  be  ready  for  the 
Renaissance.  Little  wonder,  therefore,  that  the 
negro  race  in  'America  has  not  attained  perfec 
tion  in  less  than  fifty  years^  y 


CHAPTER  V 

HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR 

THE  task  of  President  Hayes  was  doubly 
difficult  because  of  the  cloud  that  rested  on  his 
title,  but  he  was  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  an 
unusually  capable  cabinet.  With  William  M. 
Evarts  as  secretary  of  state,  Carl  Schurz  as  sec 
retary  of  the  interior,  and  John  Sherman  as 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  the  country  would 
have  been  in  safe  hands  even  had  Hayes  not 
proved  to  be  a  man  of  firmness,  intelligence,  and 
unimpeachable  integrity.  As  a  step  toward  con 
ciliating  the  South,  Hayes  selected  David  M. 
Key,  a  Democrat  and  ex-Confederate  officer  from 
Tennessee,  as  postmaster-general.  He  even 
considered  making  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
secretary  of  war,  but  was  dissuaded  from  doing 
so.  "Great  God!  Governor,"  cried  a  prominent 
Republican  when  he  heard  what  Hayes  was  con 
templating,  "I  hope  you  are  not  thinking  of 
doing  anything  of  that  kind!  " 

The  president's  wife  was  a  model  of  domestic 
virtue,  and,  like  Abigail  Adams,  did  much  to  add 
to  her  husband's  limited  popularity.  The  sim 
plicity  of  life  at  the  White  House  under  her 
regime  received  high  praise.  Mrs.  Hayes  was  an 
86 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   87 

ardent  prohibitionist.  She  gave  orders  that  no 
intoxicating  drinks  should  be  served  on  the  White 
House  table,  even  at  state  dinners.  Her  stand  on 
this  question  pleased  most  of  the  women  of  the 
country,  some  of  whom  gave  "Lucy  Hayes 
Tea-Parties'*  and  with  the  proceeds  placed  her 
portrait  in  the  White  House.  The  old  "wine 
bibbers"  of  Washington  and  many  foreign  dip 
lomats  did  not  view  the  innovation  with  so  much 
enthusiasm.  But  the  White  House  chef  took 
compassion  on  thirsty  souls  by  inventing  for  one 
of  the  courses  at  state  dinners  a  sort  of  box  made 
of  frozen  orange  skin,  the  interior  of  which  con 
tained  a  potent  punch  consisting  in  large  part  of 
rum.  This  came  to  be  called  "the  life-saving 
station."  After  a  certain  dinner,  an  acquaintance 
asked  the  witty  Evarts  how  things  had  gone 
off.  "Excellently,"  he  replied,  "the  water  flowed 
like  champagne." 

The  president's  policy  regarding  the  South 
displeased  many  Republicans,  and  his  course  re 
garding  appointments  still  further  angered  them. 
Hayes  was  a  sincere  believer  in  civil  service 
reform;  his  protestations  in  its  behalf  in  his  letter 
oF~ac~c"eptance  had  been  no  mere  lip  service.  Al 
though  he  went  too  far  in  bestowing  offices  upon 
Southern  Carpet-baggers  and  Scalawags  connected 
with  the  recent  electoral  count,  he  refused  to  be 
subservient  to  the  patronage  demands  of  the  party 
leaders.  He  alienated  Senator  Conkling  of  New 
York  by  removing,  in  the  interest  of  efficient  ad 
ministration,  Chester  A.  Arthur  and  others  of 
Conkling's  henchmen  from  the  New  York  custom 
house.  The  senate,  sympathizing  with  Conkling, 


88      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

long  refused  to  ratify  nominees  to  the  vacant 
places.  Many  "Stalwarts,"  including  Senator 
Zachariah  Chandler,  chairman  of  the  Republican 
national  committee,  denounced  Hayes  unsparingly 
for  alleged  cowardly  and  treacherous  abandonment 
of  Southern  Republicans  to  their  bitterest  enemies, 
though  with  many  the  thing  that  most  rankled 
was  doubtless  the  president's  independent  course 
regarding  appointments.  "Can  Such  Things  Be 
and  Overcome  Us  Like  a  Summer  Cloud  without 
Our  Special  Wonder"  was  the  striking  title  of  a 
denunciatory  pamphlet  published  by  the  peppery 
William  E.  Chandler  of  New  Hampshire,  another 
member  of  the  Republican  committee,  who  had 
been  especially  active  in  overseeing  the  Florida 
count.  But  words  failed  to  express  the  contempt 
of  the  Radicals  for  "the  old- woman  policy  of 
Granny  Hayes." 

The  Democrats,  of  course,  were  determined 
to  discredit  the  administration,  and  sedulously 
strove  to  inculcate  in  the  popular  mind  the  idea 
that  Hayes  was  a  "usurper."  Although  yielding 
a  grudging  obedience  to  the  "de  facto  president," 
they  were  careful  not  to  allow  the  public  to  for 
get  how  he  had  been  seated.  In  almost  every  issue 
of  almost  every  Democratic  newspaper  there 
appeared  at  least  one  reference  to  the  "Steal"; 
Hayes  was  "the  Boss  Thief";  Liberty  had  been 
"stabbed  by  Radical  Ruffians";  the  "Death 
Knell  of  the  Republic"  had  sounded.  Even  after 
the  quieting  effects  of  a  trip  to  Europe,  Tilden 
himself  proclaimed  from  the  steps  of  his  mansion 
at  15  Gramercy  Park  that  he  had  been  deprived 
of  the  presidency  by  a  "political  crime,"  which 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   89 

the  American  people  would  not  condone  "under 
any  pretext  or  for  any  purpose." 

In  May,  1878,  the  Democratic  house  appointed 
what  was  popularly  known  as  the  Potter  Com 
mittee  to  inquire  into  the  alleged  fraudulent 
canvass  and  return  of  votes  in  the  last  presidential 
election  in  Louisiana  and  Florida.  This  commit 
tee,  a  majority  of  whom  were  Democrats,  pro 
ceeded  to  take  testimony;  for  a  time  the  object 
of  its  creators  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  be  realized. 
Many  Southern  Republicans,  disgruntled  by  the 
president's  Southern  policy  or  by  the  fact  that 
they  had  not  been  properly  rewarded,  proved 
willing  to  testify  to  any  amount  of  Republican 
rascality,  both  real  and  imagined.  In  Florida, 
Samuel  B.  McLin,  an  ex-member  of  the  returning 
board,  stated  that  he  had  been  influenced  to 
declare  Hayes  elected  by  the  promise  of  certain 
"visiting  statesmen"  that  he  should  be  "taken 
care  of,"  which  had  not  been  done.  Numerous 
lesser  lights,  in  both  Florida  and  Louisiana, 
testified  to  frauds  and  to  similar  unredeemed 
promises.  The  committee  drew  up  long  lists  of 
persons  connected  with  the  canvass  in  those 
states  who  had  actually  received  Federal  offices. 
There  was  no  conclusive  proof  that  these  appoint 
ments  were  intended  as  rewards  for  questionable 
services,  but  the  circumstances  lent  themselves 
to  that  view,  and  the  most  charitable  construc 
tion  was  "that  post  hoc  is  not  always  propter 
hoc." 

The  revelations  were  scattered  broadcast  by  the 
Democratic  press  and  gave  promise  of  a  bountiful 
political  harvest.  Unless  something  happened 


90      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

to  break  the  force  of  the  disclosures  it  seemed 
probable  that  in  1880  the  Democrats  would 
renominate  Tilden  and  "right  the  Great  Wrong." 
The  Republicans  felt  deeply  depressed,  but  for 
tune  favored  them.  Back  in  January,  1877, 
committees  of  congress  had  secured  from  the 
Western  Union  ^  Telegraph  Company  all  the  dis 
patches  transmitted  by  Republican  and  Demo 
cratic  leaders  during  the  campaign  and  the  excit 
ing  days  that  followed  it.  The  examination  of 
these  dispatches  had  not  been  searching  enough 
to  reveal  anything  beyond  a  Democratic  attempt 
to  purchase  a  Republican  elector  in  Oregon;  in 
due  course  of  time  presumably  all  the  telegrams 
were  returned  to  the  company  and  burned.  But 
secretly  some  hundreds  of  telegrams,  mostly 
of  Democratic  origin,  had  been  abstracted  by 
certain  Republicans  and  retained.  These  were 
now  put  into  the  possession  of  the  New  York 
Tribune.  Most  of  them  were  in  cipher,  but  two 
ingenious  persons  on  the  Tribune  staff,  by  employ 
ing  methods  more  suggestive  of  Poe's  Gold  Bug 
than  of  an  event  in  real  life,  succeeded  in  dis 
covering  the  keys  to  all  but  a  few  messages. 
And  the  facts  that  the  keys  unlocked  proved 
sensational. 

The  telegrams  were  for  the  most  part  sent  by 
or  directed  to  Colonel  W.  T.  Pelton,  acting  sec 
retary  of  the  Democratic  national  committee. 
Pelton  was  Tilden's  nephew  and  resided  with 
him  at  15  Gramercy  Park,  to  which  many  of  the 
telegrams  were  addressed.  The  dispatches  re 
vealed  attempts  to  bribe  the  Florida  and  South 
Carolina  returning  boards.  They  were  given  to 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   91 

the  world  by  the  Tribune  in  a  way  skillfully  cal- 
culted  to  arouse  public  interest  to  the  utmost. 
Every  one  marveled  at  the  ingenuity  of  the  de 
cipherers,  and  thousands  made  use  of  the  "keys" 
to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  translations.  Moved 
by  the  popular  uproar,  the  Potter  Committee 
reluctantly  instituted  an  investigation  of  the 
unexpected  mare's  nest.  Most  of  the  Democrats 
concerned,  including  Pelton,  did  not  deny  the 
essential  charges  made  against  them,  but  justi 
fied  themselves  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
merely  trying  to  "ransom  stolen  property  from 
thieves."  Tilden  denied  all  corrupt  knowledge 
of  the  transactions,  but  some  of  his  earlier  state 
ments  proved  to  be  disingenuous,  and  to  this  day 
his  part  in  the  matter  is  still  in  doubt. 

The  political  effect  of  the  cipher  dispatches 
was  enormous.  While  the  revelations  did  not 
remove  from  Republican  skirts  the  mud  that  was 
attached  to  them,  they  revealed  the  fact  that 
those  of  Dame  Democracy  were  not  a  whit 
cleaner.  The  "Great  Steal"  ceased  to  be  a 
living  political  issue,  and  henceforth  Democratic 
orators  were  unable  to  interest  the  people  in  it. 

Democratic  activity  in  this  period  also  took 
the  form  of  attempts  to  repeal  the  Federal  elec 
tion  laws,  which  were  bitterly  disliked  because  of 
the  protection  they  afforded  negro  voters  in  the 
South.  As  the  Democrats  controlled  the  house 
throughout  the  administration  and  the  senate 
during  the  last  two  years  of  it,  they  were  in  a 
position  to  work  actively  in  that  direction.  In 
all,  Hayes  vetoed  eight  attempts  to  repeal  the 
obnoxious  acts,  the  attempts  usually  taking  the 


92      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

form  of  "riders"  on  appropriation  bills.  Twice 
he  had  to  call  special  sessions  of  congress  in  order 
to  obtain  funds  with  which  to  carry  on  the  govern 
ment.  He  was  forced  to  sign  bills  forbidding  the 
use  of  troops  at  the  polls,  but  the  Democrats 
failed  of  their  main  purpose,  and  by  their  fac 
tional  tactics  in  the  matter  lost  largely  in  public 
favor. 

Another  contest  of  this  administration  centered 
around  the  proposed  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments.  The^  Resumption  Act  of  1875  had  fixed 
upon  January  1,  1870,  as  the  date  for  the  attempt. 
Despite  bitter  opposition  and  dire  prophecies,  the 
act  was  carried  out.  In  order  to  insure  success, 
Secretary  Sherman  was  careful  to  gather  a  coin 
reserve  of  about  $133,000,000,  or  almost  two- 
fifths  of  the  amount  of  the  notes  to  be  redeemed. 
As  the  appointed  day  drew  near,  rumors  were 
rife  of  an  attempt  to  "corner"  gold,  and  many 
bankers  were  panic-stricken  with  apprehension. 
But  resumption  was  carried  through  without  a 
financial  ripple.  The  report  from  the  New  York 
sub-treasury  for  January  2,  1879  (the  1st  had 
fallen  on  Sunday),  ran:  "$135,000  of  notes  pre 
sented  for  coin— $400,000  of  gold  for  notes." 
Coin  and  greenbacks  were  at  last  on  a  par,  and  as 
Secretary  Sherman  had  prophesied,  when  people 
found  that  they  could  obtain  gold  for  notes,  they 
preferred  the  notes. 

Another  great  financial  achievement  of  this 
administration  was  the  refunding  of  the  national 
debt.  Bonds  bearing  five  and  six  per  cent  inter 
est,  the  sum  the  government  had  been  forced  to 
pay  during  the  dark  days  of  the  war,  were  called 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   93 

in  whenever  possible  and  replaced  by  new  bonds 
bearing  four  or  four  and  a  half  per  cent.  By  the 
summer  of  1879  every  dollar  of  the  redeemable 
debt  had  been  thus  refunded.  By  this  states 
manlike  policy  Secretary  Sherman  effected  an 
annual  saving  in  interest  charges  of  over  fourteen 
million  dollars. 

Resumption  had  been  preceded  by  important 
currency  legislation.  Back  in  1873  a  law  had  been 
passed  demonetizing  silver  and  making  gold  the 
only  legal  tender  coin  for  large  amounts.  This 
act,  little  noticed  at  the  time,  was  years  later 
vehemently  denounced  as  "the  Crime  of  1873." 
It  had  been  enacted  in  compliance  with  a  recom 
mendation  made  by  an  international  conference  in 
Paris  in  1867,  a  recommendation  followed  by  most 
other  civilized  countries.  The  act  of  1873,  joined 
with  the  prospect  of  resumption  and  other  causes,  ) 
tended  to  decrease  prices.  This  naturally  worked/ 
a  hardship  upon  the  debtor  class,  in  which  they 
United  States  was  itself  included,  for  it  is  evident 
that  when  a  man  borrows  a  cheap  dollar  and  has 
to  pay  a  high-priced  one  he  is  returning  more 
than  he  received.  A  measure  known  as  the  Bland 
JBilL-xestoring  silver  to  "its  ancient  legal  equality  ~~ 
with  gold_as_aT3ebt-paying  money ,^~ was  intro- 
diicecT  in  congress.  iTenceforth  any  owner  of 
silver  bullion  was  to  have  the  right  to  deposit  it 
at  any  coinage  mint  or  assay  office  and  have  it 
coined  into  dollars  on  the  same  terms  as  if  it  were 
gold,  the  legal  ratio  between  the  two  metals 
being  about  sixteen  to  one.  Through  the  influence 
of  Senator  Allison  of  Iowa  an  amendment  was 
incorporated  in  the  bill  eliminating  the  "free  and 


94      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

unlimited"  feature,  but  requiring  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  to  purchase  monthly  not  less  than 
two  million  dollars'  worth  of  silver  and  not  more 
than  four  millions  and  coin  it  into  dollars.  East 
erners  of  both  parties  generally  opposed  the  bill, 
but  both  Republican  and  Democratic  members 
from  west  of  the  Alleghanies  generally  supported 
it,  and  it  passed  both  houses.  Hayes  vetoed  the 
bill,  but  the  silver  tide  was  running  so  strongly 
that  congress  passed  the  bill  over  his  veto  (Feb 
ruary  28,  1878). 

In  this  period  much  dissatisfaction  was  mani 
fested  with  the  management  of  railroads.  In 
its  early  days  the  railroad  was  regarded  as  a 
public  benefactor;  the  Federal  and  state  govern 
ments,  municipalities,  and  individuals  gave  hun 
dreds  of  millions  in  money  or  land  to  aid  their 
construction.  Although  quasi-public  in  char 
acter,  the  railroads  too  often  showed  a  total  lack 
of  gratitude  for  such  favors.  Their  rates  were 
high,  and  discrimination  in  rates  between  dif 
ferent  towns  or  in  favor  of  certain  shippers  in 
creased  the  dissatisfaction.  Towns  without  com 
peting  lines  usually  had  to  pay  higher  rates  to  a 
given  point  than  did  places  more  distant  that  were 
fortunate  in  being  served  by  rival  lines.  Thus  it 
cost  more  to  ship  goods  direct  from  Pittsburg  to 
Philadelphia  than  to  send  them  by  boat  down  the 
Ohio  to  Cincinnati  and  thence  by  rail  to  their  des 
tination.  The  reason  was  that  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  had  a  monopoly  between  Pittsburg  and 
Philadelphia,  whereas  Cincinnati  was  favored  with 
competing  lines. 

So  long  as  competition  continued,  the  public 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   95 

often  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  rate  wars.  But 
these  wars  proved  ruinous  to  the  railroads,  and 
the  magnates  endeavored  to  avoid  them  by  con 
solidation  of  competing  lines  or  by  traffic  agree 
ments,  especially  by  the  device  known  as  "pool 
ing."  Economically  consolidation  was  desirable, 
for  it  enabled  the  railroads  to  give  better  service 
at  reduced  cost,  but  ordinarily  they  were  slow  to 
give  the  public  a  fair  share  of  the  benefits  derived. 
The  formation  of  "trunk  lines,"  in  particular, 
proved  a  great  advantage  both  to  shippers  and 
travelers.  Passengers  who  to-day  are  whisked 
from  New  York  to  Chicago  without  a  break  in 
their  journey  have  little  conception  of  the  hard 
ships  and  trials  of  a  trip  between  those  cities  in 
the  '60s,  when  it  was  necessary  to  buy  several 
tickets  and  change  cars  several  times,  the  stations 
of  the  different  lines  being  often  miles  apart  and 
waits  for  trains  long  and  tedious.  In  1869  Cor 
nelius  Vanderbilt,  president  of  the  Hudson  River 
Railroad,  consolidated  it  with  the  New  York 
Central,  making  thereby  one  continuous  line  from 
New  York  City  to  Buffalo.  Four  years  later  he 
leased  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern, 
extending  the  line  to  Chicago.  About  the  same 
time  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  were  also  gaining  entrance  to  the  metropolis 
of  the  Middle  West. 

One  of  the  chief  agencies  in  stirring  up  hostility 
to  the  railroads  was  a  society  known  as  the 
"Patrons  of  Husbandry"  or  "Grangers."  This 
society  was  founded  at  Washington  in  1867.  It 
included  both  men  and  women,  and  by  the  "Cen 
tennial  Year"  had  a  membership  of  a  million  and 


96      RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

a  half,  mostly  in  the  West  and  South.  One  of 
its  objects  was  to  secure  direct  dealing  between 
producer  and  consumer,  thereby  eliminating  the 
middleman  and  his  profits.  It  also  concerned 
itself  with  securing  better  and  cheaper  transporta 
tion  rates.  Largely  through  its  agency  such  states 
as  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin  enacted  laws 
fixing  maximum  railway  charges  and  providing 
that  they  should  be  uniform.  The  supreme  court 
in  the  so-called  "Granger  Cases"  affirmed  the 
constitutionality  of  these  laws,  provided  they  did 
not  establish  rates  so  low  as  to  be  confiscatory, 
though  later  the  court  denied  to  the  states  the 
right  to  restrict  interstate  commerce.  But  the 
Granger  influence  soon  declined,  and  the  critical 
financial  condition  of  most  railways  in  the  period 
from  1873  to  1881  resulted  in  the  repeal  of  many 
of  the  restrictive  laws.  The  railway  problem 
continued,  however,  to  be  a  troublesome  one,  and 
in  a  few  years  a  demand  for  Federal  regulation  of 
railroads  arose. 

The  period  was  also  one  of  great  unrest  in  labor 
circles.  With  the  g£QW.th  of  the  factory  system 
and  the  rise  of  gigantic  corporations  the  old-time 
personal  relations  between  employer  and  em 
ployes  became  impossible.  Being  powerless 
against  such  titanic  forces  individually,  employes 
were  forced  in  self-defense  to  organize.  Trades- 
unions  sprang  up  like  mushrooms,  and  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  intended  as  a  sort  of  union  of  all,  quickly 
attained  a  membership  of  a  million.  The  general 
public  feared  the  great  combinations  of  capital 
as  a  menace  to  democracy  and  inclined  to  sym 
pathize  with  the  workingmen.  Stock-watering 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   97 

and  similar  vicious  practices  whereby  a  clique 
holding  a  majority  of  the  shares  in  an  enterprise 
sought  to  ruin  the  other  stockholders  in  order 
to  acquire  their  holdings  for  next  to  nothing,  in 
creased  the  public  hostility.  To  the  employer's 
"blacklist,"  intended  to  prevent  agitators  from 
securing  work  elsewhere,  the  Unions  retorted 
with  the  "boycott,"  intended  to  keep  the  products 
of  obnoxious  establishments  from  finding  a  sale. 
When  unchecked,  the  unions  were  often  as  tyran 
nical  as  the  employers,  for  human  nature  is  about 
the  same  beneath  jeans  as  beneath  broadcloth. 

In  Pennsylvania  labor  troubles  became  so 
acute  and  public  indignation  against  extortionate 
coal  barons  so  strong  that  a  long  reign  of  lawless 
ness  ensued  (1865-76).  In  the  Schuylkill  and 
Shamokin  districts  bosses  and  "scabs"  were 
served  with  notices  of  the  Ku-Klux  kind,  and 
many  were  beaten  or  murdered.  The  chief 
instrument  in  such  outrages  was  a  secret  society 
called  the  "Molly  Maguires,"  whose  name  and 
spirit  were  "both  imported  from  Ireland."  In 
places  the  Mollies  had  sympathizers  among  the 
police,  and  even  controlled  city  and  county  elec 
tions.  In  1873  a  Pinkerton  detective  named  James 
McParlan  was  imported  to  ferret  out  the  secrets 
of  the  gang.  He  was  frequently  in  deadly  peril, 
but  succeeded  so  well  that  the  order  was  finally 
broken  up.  Nineteen  "Mollies"  were  hanged, 
and  a  much  larger  number  were  sentenced  to  long 
terms  in  prison. 

In  1877,  owing  to  depressed  business  conditions 
and  a  ruinous  rate  war,  the  New  York  Central, 
the  Erie,  the  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Baltimore 


98      RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

and  Ohio  lowered  the  wages  of  their  workmen 
and  precipitated  the  greatest  strike  the  country 
had  yet  known.  It  began  at  Martinsburg,  West 
Virginia,  on  the  16th  of  July.  The  strikers 
stopped  all  trains,  paralyzed  traffic,  and  started 
a  riot.  The  governor  of  the  state  called  out  the 
militia,  but  they  proved  unequal  to  the  crisis, 
and  he  thereupon  appealed  to  President  Hayes, 
who  sent  250  regulars  to  Martinsburg.  The  strike 
quickly  spread  to  other  lines  and  other  cities.  At 
Baltimore  a  conflict  between  mob  and  militia 
resulted  in  the  death  of  a  dozen  persons  and  "the 
wounding  of  many  more.  The  governor  of  Mary 
land  applied  to  the  president  for  troops,  as  did  the 
governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  they  were  fur 
nished.  At  Pittsburg  the  local  militia  fraternized 
with  the  mob,  but  some  companies  from  Phila 
delphia  engaged  in  a  bloody  fight  with  the  strikers. 
The  troops  took  refuge  in  a  round-house,  whence 
the  strikers  dislodged  them  by  pushing  burning 
cars  of  oil  and  coke  against  the  building.  For  a 
time  the  mob  was  in  complete  control  of  the  city, 
and  arson  and  pillage  were  added  to  rioting.  About 
two  thousand  cars  and  over  a  hundred  locomo 
tives  were  burned  or  ruined,  and  much  other 
property  was  stolen  or  destroyed.  State  troops 
and  regulars  were  poured  into  the  district,  order 
was  gradually  restored,  and  the  strike  was  broken. 
Riotous  demonstrations  also  occurred  in  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Illinois,  and  elsewhere,  and  considerable  blood  was 
shed.  In  Illinois  regulars  were  furnished  to  re 
store  order  on  request  of  the  governor,  and  in 
Missouri  and  Indiana  on  the  request  of  United 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR   99 

States  marshals.  For  two  weeks  the  country 
was  in  a  state  resembling  anarchy  or  civil  war; 
excited  journalists  compared  conditions  with  those 
existing  in  France  under  the  Red  Terror.  In 
general,  the  strike  failed.  The  conflict  did  much 
to  widen  the  growing  breach  between  capital  and 
labor,  of  which  the  end  is  not  yet. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  popular  discontent  devel 
oped  into  what  was  known  as  the  "Sand-lot" 
movement  or  "  Kearney  ism."  The  people  were 
suffering  from  hard  times,  and  "the  mob  of  San 
Francisco,  swelled  by  disappointed  miners  from 
the  camps  and  labourers  out  of  work,  men  lured 
from  distant  homes  by  the  hope  of  wealth  and 
ease  in  the  land  of  gold,  saw  themselves  on  the 
verge  of  starvation,  while  the  splendid  mansions 
of  speculators,  who  fifteen  years  before  had  kept 
little  shops,  rose  along  the  heights  of  the  city,  and 
the  newspapers  reported  their  luxurious  banquets. 
In  the  country  the  farmers  were  scarcely  less  dis 
contented.  They,  too,  had  'gone  into  stocks/ 
their  farms  were  mortgaged,  and  many  of  them 
were  bankrupt.  They  complained  that  the  rail 
roads  crushed  them  by  heavy  freight  rates,  and 
asked  why  they,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  country, 
should  toil  without  profit,  while  local  millionaires 
and  wealthy  Eastern  bondholders  drew  large 
incomes  from  the  traffic  which  the  plow  of  the 
agriculturist  and  the  pickaxe  of  the  miner  had 
created."  People  were  disgusted  with  both 
political  parties;  state,  city,  and  county  govern 
ments  were  rotten  to  the  core  and  under  the  con 
trol  of  corporations,  especially  the  railroads.  The 
legislatures  were  so  disreputable  that  one  was 


100    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

called   "the   legislature  of   a  thousand   drinks," 
another  "the  legislature  of  a  thousand  steals." 

A  certain  Denis  Kearney,  an  Irishman  by 
birth,  came  forward  as  the  leader  of  the  discon 
tented,  and  organized  (September  12,  1877)  a 
"  Workingman's  Party  of  California,"  of  which  he 
was  chosen  president.  It  favored  legal  regulation 
of  the  hours  of  labor,  abolition  of  land  and  mon 
eyed  monopolies,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
state  labor  commission.  Chief  emphasis  was  laid 
upon  the  exclusion  of  the  Chinese.  Hatred  of  the 
Orientals  was  already  widespread;  they  were 
willing  to  toil  long  hours  for  a  pittance  on  which 
an  American  could  not  exist  and  were  swarming 
into  the  country  in  such  numbers  as  to  threaten 
to  Mongolianize  it.  Kearney  proved  a  speaker 
of  no  mean  power,  and  addressed  great  crowds, 
the  usual  place  of  meeting  being  on  the  "Sand 
Lot,"  a  large  open  space  not  yet  covered  with 
buildings.  In  imitation  of  Cato  he  ended  every 
harangue  with  the  slogan :  "  The  Chinese  must  go." 

The  new  party  grew  with  great  rapidity,  and 
soon  attained  such  power  that  it  secured  the  call 
ing  of  a  constitutional  convention,  which,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Grangers,  it  controlled.  The  new 
constitution,  which  was  designed  to  "cinch 
capital,"  proved  "an  odd  mixture  of  ignorance 
and  good  intentions."  Parts  of  it  were  subse 
quently  held  by  the  United  States  supreme  court 
to  be  in  conflict  with  the  Federal  constitution. 
A  reaction  against  Kearneyism  soon  set  in,  and 
Kearney  lost  most  of  his  influence. 

The  agitation  against  the  "Heathen  Chinee" 
continued,  however,  and,  in  a  speaking  tour 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  101 

through  the  East,  Kearney  helped  to  make  the 
movement  a  national  one.  In  1879  congress 
passed  an  act  restricting  the  immigration  of 
Chinese,  but  Hayes  vetoed  it  because  it  con 
flicted  with  a  treaty  negotiated  with  China  by 
Anson  Burlingame  in  1868.  In  spite  of  all  efforts 
of  disinterested  philanthropists  and  interested 
capitalists,  hatred  of  the  Chinese  increased.  Mobs 
mistreated  and  even  murdered  them  in  many 
states.  In  1880  an  American  commission  suc 
ceeded  in  obtaining  a  modification  of  the  Burlin 
game  treaty,  and  two  years  later  a  bill  excluding 
Chinese  laborers  for  twenty  years  was  carried 
through  congress,  chiefly  by  Democratic  votes, 
but  Arthur  vetoed  it.  The  president  suggested  a 
"  shorter  experiment,"  and  another  measure, 
which  reduced  the  term  of  exclusion  to  ten  years, 
received  his  signature.  In  1888  a  bill  cutting  off 
the  privilege  of  returning  to  the  United  States 
became  a  law,  and  in  1892  the  drastic  Geary  law 
extending  the  suspension  for  another  ten  years 
was  enacted  in  spite  of  vigorous  protests  from 
the  Chinese  government.  Though  often  evaded, 
these  laws  served  to  prevent  any  considerable 
influx  of  Chinese  into  the  country. 

In  his  letter  of  acceptance  President  Hayes 
had  announced  his  "  inflexible  purpose,  if  elected, 
not  to  be  a  candidate  for  a  second  term,"  and  the 
"Stalwarts"  were  quite  willing  that  ^ he  should 
keep  his  word.  A  senatorial  triumvirate  com 
posed  of  Conkling  of  New  York,  Logan  of  Illinois, 
and  "Don"  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  early 
began  a  campaign  for  the  restoration  of  the  Grant 
regime.  Grant  had  recently  returned  from  a 


102    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

grand  tour  around  the  world,  and  his  reception 
abroad  by  great  potentates  had  tickled  American 

Eride.  His  progress  from  San  Francisco,  where 
e  landed  on  his  return,  proved  a  continuous 
ovation.  People  temporarily  forgot  the  failures  of 
his  presidency  and  thought  of  him  as  a  military 
hero  rather  than  as  a  discredited  statesman.  The 
triumvirate  pushed  his  candidacy  energetically, 
but  prejudice  against  a  third  term  soon  awoke,  and 
people  began  to  recall  the  scandals  of  1869-77. 
Grant  at  first  declared  that  he  would  not  hold 
an  office  "that  required  any  manoeuvring,  or 
sacrificing  to  obtain,"  but  unwise  friends  and 
members  of  his  family  were  so  urgent  that  pres 
ently  it  became  apparent  that  he  would  take  the 
nomination  in  any  honorable  way  he  could  obtain 
it.  Other  candidates  were  Senator  Elaine  of 
Maine,  Secretary  Sherman  of  Ohio,  and  Senator 
Edmunds  of  Vermont.  Blaine,  in  particular,  had 
a  strong  following,  and  it  was  partly  in  order 
to  prevent  the  nomination  of  his  enemy  that 
Conkling  brought  forward  Grant. 

When  the  convention  assembled  at  Chicago 
on  June  2,  1880,  the  triumvirate  had  secured 
Grant  delegations  from  their  respective  states, 
but  their  methods  had  been  so  high-handed  as 
to  cause  bitter  indignation.  The  platform,  as 
reported  to  the  convention,  contained  no  reference 
to  civil  service  reform,  which  in  reality  was  a  vital 
issue.  A  Massachusetts  delegate  moved  the  ad 
dition  of  a  resolution  declaring  for  it.  Thereupon 
a  certain  Flanagan  from  Texas  jumped  to  his 
feet  proclaiming  that  "To  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils,"  and  naively  asking,  "What  are  we  up 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR    TO& 

here  for?"  After  some  discussion,  the  reform 
plank  was  adopted.  By  his  domineering  manner 
and  sneering,  sarcastic  tone  Conkling  repelled 
wavering  delegates,  and  he  also  failed  to  secure 
the  adoption  of  the  "unit  rule,"  which  would 
probably  have  insured  Grant's  nomination.  In 
New  York  alone  nineteen  delegates,  led  by  Wil 
liam  H.  Robertson,  broke  away  from  Conkling's 
leadership  and  supported  Elaine. 

Conkling  presented  the  name  of  his  candidate 
to  the  convention  in  a  speech  that  has  few  equals 
of  its  kind.  Mounting  a  table  on  the  reporters* 
platform,  he  began,  parodying  certain  lines  by 
Miles  O'Reilly: 

"  And  when  asked  what  state  he  hails  from. 

Our  sole  reply  shall  be, 
He  hails  from  Appomattox 
And  its  famous  apple  tree." 

Almost  equally  notable  was  the  speech  of 
James  A.  Garfield  in  behalf  of  John  Sherman. 
Garfield  had  charge  of  Sherman's  forces  and  had 
led  the  opposition  to  the  unit  rule.  "Afterwards 
it  was  often  sneeringly  suggested  that  Garfield 
spoke  for  himself  rather  than  for  Sherman,  but 
this  sneer  was  prompted  by  the  outcome  of  the 
Convention." 

On  the  first  ballot  Grant  received  304  votes, 
Blaine  284,  Sherman  93,  with  the  rest  scattering, 
378  being  necessary  for  a  choice.  For  thirty -four 
ballots  Grant  received  an  average  of  306  votes, 
and  these  delegates  have  gone  down  in  history  as 
the  "Grant  Phalanx."  On  several  ballots  Gar- 
field  received  one  or  two  votes,  and  on  the  thirty- 


l'04    HECONSTiSUCTION  AND  UNION 

fourth  Wisconsin  gave  him  sixteen,  making  his 
total  seventeen.  Garfield  at  once  sprang  to  his 
feet  and  protested.  But  the  presiding  officer, 
Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts,  being  anxious 
for  Garfield's  nomination,  ruled  him  out  of  order 
and  commanded  him  to  resume  his  seat.  On 
the  next  ballot  Garfield  received  50  votes,  and 
on  the  next,  the  thirty-sixth,  399  and  the  nomi 
nation.  The  convention  then  nominated  for  vice- 
president  Chester  A.  Arthur,  whom  Hayes  had 
removed  from  the  collectorship  of  the  port  of 
New  York. 

The  Democrats  met  in  convention  at  Cincin 
nati  on  the  22d  of  June.  Tilden  was  the  logical 
candidate,  and  seems  to  have  expected  the  nomi 
nation,  but  his  health  was  poor,  and  he  had  made 
no  active  canvass.  Tammany  Hall  and  his  other 
enemies  worked  against  him,  and  pointed  out 
that  the  party  could  not  afford  to  nominate  any 
one  around  whom  hung  the  cloud  of  the  cipher 
dispatches.  At  the  last  moment  Tilden  wrote  a 
declination  which  he  did  not  expect  would  be 
accepted  literally;  the  convention  willingly  took 
him  at  his  word,  and  on  the  third  ballot  nominated 
General  Winfield  Scott  Hancock  of  Pennsylvania. 
Its  selection  for  the  vice-presidency  was  William 
H.  English  of  Indiana.  Hancock  had  been  one 
of  the  ablest  soldiers  of  the  war,  and  was  regarded 
as  the  hero  of  Gettysburg  and  Spottsylvania. 
Had  public  confidence  in  the  Democratic  party 
equaled  that  reposed  in  him  personally,  he  would 
probably  have  been  elected. 

In  the  campaign  the  Democrats  wasted  much 
breath  upon  the  alleged  "Steal"  of  the  presidency. 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR    105 

They  also  searched  Garfield's  Credit  Mobilier 
record  and  advocated  a  reduction  of  the  tariff. 
Unluckily  for  himself,  Hancock  characterized 
the  tariff  question  as  "a  local  issue";  though  he 
really  spoke  a  profound  truth,  the  phrase  was 
pounced  upon  by  his  opponents,  who  succeeded 
in  persuading  many  persons  that  in  saying  it  he 
revealed  a  total  ignorance  of  political  and  eco 
nomic  affairs.  The  Republicans  "waved  the 
bloody  shirt,"  denounced  the  Democrats  as 
having  an  "insatiable  lust  for  office,"  and  promised 
further  pensions  to  old  soldiers.  The  October 
election  in  Maine  resulted  unfavorably  to  the 
Republicans,  but  it  proved  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
The  "Stalwarts,"  who  had  hitherto  been  sulking, 
now  threw  aside  their  apathy  and  worked  hard 
for  Garfield.  Conkling  and  even  the  silent  Grant 
took  the  stump  and  rendered  valuable  assistance. 
As  usual,  the  Republicans  obtained  a  large  cam 
paign  fund,  partly  by  levying  assessments  upon 
office-holders.  Disclosures  made  subsequent  to 
the  election  seemed  to  show  that  Garfield  himself 
had  a  hand  in  this  discreditable  transaction.  The 
election  resulted  in  a  Republican  victory;  Gar- 
field  received  214  electoral  votes  to  155  for  Han 
cock,  but  his  popular  plurality  was  less  than  ten 
thousand.  The  Republicans  also  regained  ^control 
of  the  house.  General  James  B.  Weaver,  who 
had  been  nominated  by  the  Greenback  party, 
received  308,000  votes  but  carried  no  state. 

The  new  president  had  risen  to  his  high  place 
from  very  humble  beginnings.  For  a  time  he 
worked  as  mule-boy  on  the  tow-path  of  the  Ohio 
Canal  between  Marietta  and  Cleveland,  but  he 


106    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

succeeded  in  obtaining  an  education  and  graduated 
from  Williams  College.  Subsequently  he  was  a 
professor  in  and  then  president  of  a  small  college 
in  Ohio  and  served  in  the  state  legislature.  He 
entered  the  Union  army  early  in  the  war,  and  for 
gallant  service  at  Chickamauga  was  made  a 
major-general.  In  1863  he  entered  the  Federal 
house  of  representatives,  serving  there  continu 
ously  for  eighteen  years  and  becoming  one  of  the 
best  informed  men  in  public  life.  He  was  a 
powerful  orator,  an  inspiring  leader,  but  he  was 
inclined  to  be  vacillating. 

The  nomination  of  Garfield  had  temporarily 
healed  the  schism  in  the  Republican  ranks.  The 
wound  soon  broke  open  afresh.  Garfield  selected 
Blaine  as  his  secretary  of  state,  and  thereby 
aroused  the  ire  of  Conkling,  who  considered  that 
it  was  through  his  efforts  that  victory  had  perched 
upon  the  Republican  banners.  Other  appoint 
ments  still  further  incensed  Conkling.  In  a 
stormy  interview  with  Garfield  at  the  Riggs 
House  in  Washington  he  charged  the  president 
elect  with  ingratitude  and  treason  to  his  party. 
Soon  after  the  inauguration  Garfield  appointed 
Robertson,  the  leader  of  the  New  York  bolters 
in  the  convention,  to  the  collectorship  of  the  port 
of  New  York.  In  this  Conkling  thought  he  saw 
the  fine  Italian  hand  of  Blaine  and  fell  into  a 
frenzy  of  wrath.  A  "committee  of  conciliation" 
failed  to  restore  harmony.  Resolved  to  make  the 
president  "bite  the  dust,"  Conkling  gave  out 
a  letter  written  by  Garfield  during  the  campaign 
for  the  purpose  of  pressing  collection  of  funds 
from  government  appointees.  The  Republican 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  107 

party  temporarily  split  into  the  Conkling-Arthur 
party,  known  as  "the  Prince  of  Wales  Party"  or 
"Stalwarts,"  the  administration  Republicans  or 
•"  Half  -breeds,"  and  the  neutrals  or  "Jelly-fish." 
On  May  16,  1881,  Conkling  petulantly  resigned 
his  position  as  senator,  and  was  followed  by  his 
colleague  and  henchman,  Thomas  C.  Platt,  hence 
forth  dubbed  by  cartoonists  "Me-Too  Platt." 
They  expected  to  be  vindicated  by  an  immediate 
re-election,  but  the  New  York  legislature  thought 
otherwise,  and  to  the  delight  of  the  country, 
which  was  disgusted  with  Conkling's  conceit  and 
domineering  manner,  chose  E.  G.  Lapham  and 
Warner  Miller,  administration  Republicans,  in 
their  stead.  Conkling  never  returned  to  public 
life;  Platt 's  eclipse  proved  only  momentary,  and 
for  years  he  was  the  "Easy  Boss"  of  New  York. 
Although  the  incoming  president  belonged  to 
the  same  party  as  his  predecessor,  he  was  forced 
to  attempt  the  difficult  feat  of  satisfying  thou 
sands  of  hungry  office-seekers  with  five  loaves  and 
two  small  fishes.  It  was  said  that  a  third  of 
Garfield's  time  was  devoted  to  listening  to  the 
clamor  of  candidates.  They  even  lay  in  ambush 
for  him  on  his  way  to  church.  Of  course,  many 
were  disappointed.  Among  the  number  was  a 
certain  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  half-crazed  fanatic 
who  had  been  by  turns  preacher,  editor,  reformer, 
and  politician.  Guiteau  conceived  the  idea  that 
he  would  do  the  party  a  great  service  by  "re 
moving"  Garfield  and  thereby  reuniting  the  fac 
tions  into  which  Republicans  were  divided.  On 
the  2d  of  July,  1881,  he  approached  Garfield 
and  Secretary  Blaine  in  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 


108    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

road  station  in  Washington  and  fired  two  shots, 
one  of  which  took  effect  in  the  president's  back. 
The  wounded  man  lingered  through  more  than 
two  months  of  terrible  suffering,  and  finally  died 
on  September  19th  at  Elberon  on  the  New 
Jersey  coast.  The  rage  of  the  people  at  the 
assassin  knew  no  bounds.  Twice  attempts  were 
made  to  kill  him.  His  trial  lasted  for  two  months, 
the  defense  being  insanity.  He  was  condemned 
and  executed  at  Washington,  June  30,  1882. 

The  second  article  of  the  Federal  constitution 
provides  that  "in  case  of  the  removal  of  the 
President  from  office,  or  of  his  death,  resignation 
or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties 
of  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the 
Vice-President. "  During  Garfield's  illness  a 
grave  question  existed  as  to  whether  Vice-presi 
dent  Arthur  ought  to  assume  the  presidential 
office.  But  no  steps  in  that  direction  were  taken, 
and  fortunately  no  emergencies  arose  that  could 
not  be  met  by  the  cabinet.  The  death  of  the 
president  removed  all  doubts,  and  Arthur  took 
the  presidential  oath,  first  at  his  residence  in 
New  York  City  and  later  in  Washington.  "Men 
may  die,"  said  the  new  president  on  the  latter 
occasion,  "but  the  fabric  of  our  free  institutions 
remains  unshaken." 

Arthur  was  a  man  concerning  whom  little  had 
been  known  by  the  people  at  large  until  his  nom 
ination  for  the  vice-presidency.  He  had  been 
little  more  than  a  local  New  York  politician,  a 
member  of  the  so-called  " Custom-House  Gang," 
though  in  private  life  he  was  a  gentleman  of 
cultivated  tastes.  The  tremendous  responsibility 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  109^* 

he  was  called  upon  to  bear  brought  out  the  best 
traits  in  his  character,  and  he  displayed  in  office 
unexpected  sagacity  and  firmness. 

The  assassination  of  Garfield  had  one  good 
result.  The  attention  of  the  people  was  called  in 
a  tragic  way  to  the  evils  of  the  Spoils  System, 
and  the  movement  in  favor  of  Civil  Service  Re 
form  received  a  great  impetus.  A  bill  drawn  by 
the  Civil  Service  Reform  League  was  reported 
to  the  senate  by  a  committee  of  which  George 
H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  was  chairman.  The  meas 
ure  was  bitterly  opposed  by  many  politicians  of 
both  parties,  who  sneered  at  it  as  "snivel  service" 
and  characterized  its  supporters  as  "goody- 
goodies"  and  "holier  than  thous."  But  scandals 
in  the  congressional  campaign  of  1882  demon 
strated  anew  the  need  of  such  a  law,  and  the  bill 
passed  both  houses  and  received  the  signature  of 
the  president.  It  authorized  the  president  to  ap 
point  a  commission  of  three  to  institute  competi-^ 
tive  examinations  for  persons  desiring  to  enter 
the  government  service  and  provided  that  ap 
pointments  must  be  made  from  among  those  who 
passed.  It  forbade  any  congressman  or  govern 
ment  official  to  solicit  or  receive  political  assess- 
ments  from  government  employes  under  penalty 
of  fine  or  imprisonment.  Government  officials 
were  also  forbidden  to  use  their  official  authority 
to  influence  or  coerce  the  political  action  of  any 
one.  President  Arthur  appointed  a  commission 
composed  of  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  John  M.  Gregory, 
and  Leroy  D.  Thoman,  all  of  whom  had  been 
earnest  advocates  of  public  service  purification. 
The  competitive  principle  was  at  first  applied  only 


110    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

to  the  clerks  in  the  departments  at  Washington, 
to  eleven  customs  districts,  and  to  post-offices 
where  fifty  or  more  officials  were  employed. 
For  years  "practical  politicians"  continued  to 
fight  the  reform,  but  it  gradually  won  the  public 
favor  and  had  the  support  of  later  presidents, 
particularly  Cleveland  and  Roosevelt. 

Another  factor  in  the  passage  of  the  civil  service 
reform  law  was  the  disclosure  of  grave  frauds 
in  the  conduct  of  the  postal  service.  A  ring  of 
government  officials,  including  Second  Assistant 
Postmaster-general  Brady  and  Senator  Dorsey 
of  Arkansas,  had  conspired  with  certain  contrac 
tors  engaged  in  carrying  the  mails  in  sections 
of  the  West  where  there  were  no  railroads  or 
steamboats.  The  ring  managed  to  cheat  the  gov 
ernment  out  of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  Attention  had  been  drawn  to  these  "  Star 
Route"  frauds  late  in  Hayes's  administration, 
but  the  main  disclosures  were  made  under  Gar- 
field  and  Arthur.  The  business  was  broken  up, 
but  unfortunately,  through  legal  technicalities 
and  the  political  influence  of  the  accused,  the 
ringleaders  escaped  punishment.  Only  one  con 
viction  was  secured  and  that  was  of  a  man  who 
was  probably  least  guilty. 

Arthur  ultimately  retained  only  one  of  his 
predecessor's  cabinet,  namely,  Secretary  of  War 
Robert  T.  Lincoln,  son  of  Abraham.  Elaine 
gave  way  to  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen  of  New 
Jersey  in  December,  1881,  and  was  free  to  push 
his  own  political  fortunes.  Outside  the  cabinet, 
Arthur  retained  many  of  Garfield's  appointees, 
and  some  of  them  shabbily  repaid  his  forbearance. 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR    111 

In  1882  a  stringent  law  directed  against  polyg 
amy  in  Utah  Territory  was  enacted,  and  some 
hundreds  of  Mormons  were  convicted  and  sen 
tenced  under  it.  Another  measure  of  this  ad 
ministration  was  the  creation  of  the  new  American 
navy,  the  Chicago,  the  Atlanta,  the  Boston,  and  the 
Dolphin  being  authorized  and  laid  down.  In 
1881  the  centennial  of  the  surrender  of  Yorktown 
by  the  British  was  duly  celebrated.  In  the  same 
year  a  great  industrial  exposition  was  held  at 
Atlanta,  followed  three  years  later  by  another 
at  New  Orleans. 

These  expositions  directed  attention  to  the 
rapid  development  of  the  "JNIew  South/'  The 
rehabilitation  of  the  states  wasted  by  war  and 
negro  rule  had  been  slow,  yet  much  had  been 
accomplished.  Agriculture^  still  continued  to  be 
the  chief  occupation,  and  the  annual  cotton  crop 
under  free  labor  greatly  exceeded  that  "made" 
before  the  war  under  slave  labor.  In  1880 
there  were  upwards  of  four  hundred  coal  mings, 
producing  one-eighth  of  all  the  coal  mined  in 
the  United  States.  There  were  two  hundred 
iron  foundries,  with  an  annual  product  worth 
$25,0(f6,000.  The  number  of  spindles  for  spinning 
cotton  had  increased  in  a  decade  from  417,000 
to  714,000.  Other  industries  showed  rapid  devel 
opment,  but,  best  of  all,  a  new  spirit  was  abroad 
in  the  South.  The  people  were  emerging  from  the 
dark  shadow  of  lethargy  and  despair  into  tlje 
sunshine  of  hope  for  the  future.  Few  regretted 
the  past,  with  its  "peculiar  institution."  "We 
admit  that  the  sun  shines  as  brightly  and  the 
moon  as  softly  as  it  did  *  before  the  war,'"  said 


RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Henry  Grady  of  Atlanta  in  a  celebrated  speech 
delivered  in  1886  before  the  New  England  Society 
of  New  York  City.  "We  have  established  thrift 
in  the  city  and  country.  We  have  fallen  in  love 
with  work.  We  have  restored  comforts  to  homes 
from  which  culture  and  elegance  never  departed. 
We  have  let  economy  take  root  and  spread  among 
us  as  rank  as  the  crab  grass  which  sprung  from 
Sherman's  cavalry  camps,  until  we  are  ready  to 
lay  odds  on  the  Georgia  Yankee,  as  he  manu 
factures  relics  of  the  battlefield  in  a  one  story 
shanty  and  squeezes  pure  olive  oil  out  of  his  cotton 
seed,  against  any  downeaster  that  ever  swapped 
wooden  nutmegs  for  flannel  sa.  ;ages  in  the 
valley  of  Vermont." 

Popular  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  tariff 
caused  congress  in  May,  1882,  to  create  a  tariff 
commission  to  investigate  the  subject  scientifically. 
After  due  investigation  and  deliberation  The 
commission  brought  in  a  report  recommending 
an  average  reduction  in  tariff  rates  of  not  less 
than  twenty  per  cent.  It  was  subsequently 
the  opinion  of  John  Sherman  that  if  the  senate 
finance  committee  had  embodied  in  its  bill  the 
recommendations  of  the  tariff  commission  with 
out  amendment  the  tariff  question  would  have  been 
settled  for  years.  Special  interests,  as  has  hap 
pened  since,  proved  too  strong.  There  were 
plenty  of  lobbyists  and  members  of  congress 
representing  the  grasping  producer,  but  the  great 
body  of  consumers  received  little  consideration. 
The  average  reduction  effected  by  the  act  of  1883 
was  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible;  on 
many  articles  there  was  an  actual  advance. 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  113 

While  American  politicians  were  engaged  in 
unsavory  struggles,  American  explorers  were 
winning  laurels  in  the  Arctic  regions.  In  1878 
Lieutenant  Schwatka  of  the  United  States  navy 
sailed  into  the  frozen  north  in  search  of  traces 
of  the  lost  Franklin  expedition  of  thirty  years 
Before.  He  made  a  wonderful  sledge  journey 
through  the  region  northwest  of  Hudson  Bay, 
cleared  up  some  points  concerning  the  fate  of 
the  unfortunate  British  expedition,  and  made 
numerous  geographical  discoveries.  In  1879  the 
Jeanette  expedition  was  sent  out  by  James 
jordon  Bennett,  the  proprietor  of  the  New 
York  Herald.  The  Jeanette,  commanded  by 
'aptain  De  Long,  sailed  from  San  Francisco 
(July  8,  1879),  passed  through  Behring  Straits, 
and  after  a  long  battle  with  the  Arctic  ice  was 
ultimately  crushed  (June  11,  1881).  Many  of  the 
crew,  including  De  Long,  perished  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Lena  River  in  Siberia. 

Before  news  of  this  disaster  reached  the  United 
States,  Lieutenant  A.  W.  Greely  of  the  army 
ed  an  expedition  of  twenty -two  officers  and  sol 
diers  and  two  Esquimos  to  the  region  of  northern 
jreenland  in  order  to  co-operate  in  an  interna 
tional  movement  for  the  establishment  of  cir- 
:umpolar  stations  for  the  collection  of  magnetic 
md  meteorological  data.  A  detachment  under 
Second  Lieutenant  Lockwood  attained  83°  24' 
^orth,  the  highest  latitude  that  had  been  reached 
civilized  man.  Expeditions  sent  out  in  1882 
md  1883  to  relieve  Greely 's  party  failed  miser- 
ibly,  but  on  June  22,  1884,  a  party  under  Com- 
nander  Winfield  S.  Schley  found  the  wretched 


114    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

survivors  on  the  desolate  shore  near  Cape  Sabine. 
Only  seven  men,  including  Greely,  remained 
alive,  and  one  of  these  died  on  the  way  home. 
They  had  been  in  a  state  of  semi-starvation  for 
months  and  had  been  reduced  to  the  desperate 
expedient  of  cannibalism.  Tragic  as  was  the  out 
come  of  the  Greely  and  Jeanette  expeditions, 
they  inspired  other  Americans  to  engage  in  Arctic 
exploration  and  were  doubtless  instrumental  in 
producing  the  grand  consummation  of  all  Arctic 
exploration,  when,  on  April  6, 1909,  Commander 
Robert  E.  Peary,  after  more  than  twenty  years  of 
heroic  effort,  at  last  "nailed  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
to  the  North  Pole." 

President  Arthur  desired  to  be  the  standard- 
bearer  of  his  party  in  1884,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  popularity  of  Blaine,  would  probably  have 
succeeded  in  his  ambition.  The  "  Plumed  Knight " 
hesitated  to  seek  the  nomination,  for  he  feared 
that,  if  nominated,  he  could  not  carry  New  York. 
He  was  resolved,  however,  that  Arthur  should  not 
receive  the  prize,  and,  in  casting  about  for  another 
candidate,  hit  upon  General  Sherman.  But  the 
sad  experience  of  his  friend  Grant  had  not  been 
lost  on  the  old  general.  He  wrote:  "I  would 
account  myself  a  fool,  a  madman,  an  ass,  to  embark 
anew,  at  sixty-five  years  of  age,  in  a  career  that 
may  become  at  any  moment  tempest-tossed." 
Ultimately  Blaine  became  a  candidate.  Arthur, 
Edmunds,  John  Sherman,  and  John  A.  Logan 
of  Illinois  also  had  folio  wings. 

When  the  convention  assembled  in  Chicago 
(June  3),  it  included  a  number  of  persons  who  were 
to  be  famous  in  the  future.  William  McKinley 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR     115 

and  Marcus  A.  Hanna  were  members  of  the  Ohio 
delegation,  Benjamin  Harrison  of  that  from 
Indiana,  and  young  Theodore  Roosevelt  of  that 
from  New  York.  Roosevelt,  Senator  Hoar, 
George  William  Curtis,  Andrew  D.  White,  and 
other  reformers  sought  strenuously  to  defeat 
Elaine,  for  many  of  them  believed  that  he  had 
prostituted  official  position  for  pecuniary  gain. 
It  was  all  in  vain.  Elaine  led  on  the  first  ballot, 
and  on  the  fourth  was  nominated,  largely  as 
a  result  of  support  given  by  the  Logan  dele 
gates.  Logan  was  then  nominated  for  the  vice- 
presidency. 

The  selection  of  Elaine  produced  a  schism  in 
the  party.  Elaine  had  no  use  for  reformers,  hav 
ing  written  of  them:  "They  are  noisy,  but  not 
numerous;  pharisaical,  but  not  practical;  ambi 
tious,  but  not  wise;  pretentious,  but  not  power 
ful."  The  reformers  had  an  even  worse  opinion 
of  Elaine.  Many  Republican  papers,  including 
the  New  York  Times  and  Evening  Post,  the 
Boston  Herald  and  Advertiser,  and  the  Spring 
field  Republican,  announced  that  they  would  not 
support  the  candidate.  George  William  Curtis, 
Carl  Schurz,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  George  Tick- 
nor  Curtis,  and  many  other  individuals  took  a 
like  stand.  A  conference  of  Independents,  held 
in  New  York  City  on  June  16th,  declared  that 
Elaine  and  Logan  "were  named  in  absolute  dis 
regard  of  the  reform  sentiment  of  the  nation," 
and  represent  "political  methods  and  principles 
to  which  we  are  unalterably  opposed.  .  .  .  We 
look  with  solicitude  to  the  coming  nominations  by 
the  Democratic  party;  they  have  the  proper  men; 


116    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

we  hope  they  will  put  them  before  the  people." 
Thus  originated  what  were  known  as  the  "  Mug 
wumps,"  a  name  coined  some  years  before  by  the 
Indianapolis  Sentinel  but  now  applied  by  the  New 
York  Sun. 

It  was  almost  certain  that  the  Democratic 
candidate  would  be  a  man  whom  the  Mugwumps 
would  support.  Back  in  the  year  1837  there  had 
been  born  into  the  family  of  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman  living  at  Caldwell,  New  Jersey,  a 
child  who  was  christened  Stephen  Grover  Cleve 
land.  When  Grover  was  four  years  old,  the  Cleve- 
lands  removed  to  Fayetteville,  New  York.  The 
lad  worked  for  a  pittance  in  a  general  store,  but 
managed  to  secure  an  education,  and  for  a  time 
taught  in  an  institution  for  the  blind.  In  1855 
he  started  for  the  West,  but  decided  to  stop  at 
Buffalo,  where  he  worked  in  a  law  office  and 
studied  law.  In  1863  he  was  elected  assistant 
district  attorney  of  Erie  County,  and  in  1870 
sheriff.  In  1881  a  combination  of  Democrats 
and  Independents  chose  him  mayor  of  Buffalo,  / 
in  which  position  he  displayed  stubborn  honesty, 
governing  the  city  upon  business  rather  than  po 
litical  lines.  The  following  year  he  received  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  governor  of  New 
York.  His  reform  record  and  Republican  dis 
sensions  brought  about  his  election  by  the  un 
precedented  majority  of  192,854.  Honesty, 
efficiency,  and  democratic  simplicity  were  the 
keynotes  of  his  administration,  and  men  loved 
him  "for  the  enemies  he  had  made."  When 
the  Democratic  convention  met  in  Chicago,  he 
was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot,  with 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  117 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana  as  his  running 
mate. 

The  campaign  of  1884  was  one  of  the  bitterest^- 
on  record.  The  Democrats  made  much  of  Re 
publican  extravagance  and  corruption,  while  the 
Republicans  invoked  the  peril  of  "the  South 
again  in  the  saddle,"  and  tried  to  convict  the 
Democrats  of  favoring  free  trade.  Unable  to 
discover  any  irregularities  in  Cleveland's  public 
career,  his  opponents  scrutinized  his  private  life 
and  managed  to  unearth  one  disreputable  epi 
sode,  long  since  regretted  and  never  repeated. 
The  story  was  spread  abroad  with  many  fanciful 
additions,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  convince 
the  people  that  Cleveland  was  guilty  of  habitual 
immorality.  The  Democrats  countered  by  bring 
ing  to  light  certain  alleged  scandals  regarding 
Elaine's  marriage.  Such  tactics  nauseated  all 
right-thinking  people,  and  reflected  disgrace  on 
the  whole  country.  The  Democrats  delivered  a 
much  more  legitimate  and  effective  blow  by  point 
ing  out  flaws  in  Elaine's  public  record.  His  con 
nection  with  the  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith 
Railroad  received  much  attention.  His  supporters 
defended  him  vigorously,  yet  the  residuum  of  all 
the  discussion  was  that  while  Elaine  was  "far 
from  being  the  unprincipled  trickster  so  often 
pictured,  he  had  been  less  scrupulous  in  office 
than  his  best  admirers  could  have  wished." 

It  was  evident  that  the  outcome  probably 
hinged  upon  the  result  in  the  great  state  of  New 
York,  which  both  parties  made  strenuous  efforts 
to  capture.  As  governor,  Cleveland  had  antago 
nized  Roman  Catholics  by  vetoing  a  bill  for  state 


118    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

aid  to  parochial  schools,  and  he  had  also  incurred 
the  bitter  hostility  of  Tammany  Hall.  Hendricks, 
the  Democratic  vice-presidential  candidate,  made 
a  special  trip  from  Indianapolis  to  New  York, 
and  after  a  long  and  impassioned  interview  with 
John  Kelly,  the  leader  of  Tammany,  secured  a 
promise  that  Tammany  would  support  the  ticket. 
Elaine,  being  of  Irish  descent  and  the  son  of  a 
Roman  Catholic  mother,  had  great  hopes  of  the 
Catholic  vote,  but  he  lost  a  part  of  it  by  a  curious 
accident.  As  the  Conkling  faction  refused  to 
render  any  assistance,  Elaine  himself  took  the 
stump  in  New  York  and  went  about  the  state 
speaking  to  great  crowds.  A  few  days  before  the 
election  he  received  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  a 
party  of  Protestant  clergymen,  the  spokesman 
of  which,  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Burchard,  characterized 
the  Democrats  as  "the  party  of  Rum,  Romanism, 
and  Rebellion."  Elaine  failed  to  notice  the 
indiscreet  utterance  or  at  least  to  rebuke  it,  and 
the  alliterative  phrase  was  caught  up  and  spread 
broadcast  by  the  Democratic  press. 

The  election  proved  unusually  close.  Cleve 
land  carried  every  Southern  state,  besides  Con 
necticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Indiana.  Everything 
depended  upon  New  York.  For  two  weeks  the 
outcome  was  uncertain;  excitement  was  intense. 
Democrats  professed  to  fear  that  the  "Crime  of 
1876"  would  be  repeated  in  some  other  form. 
In  New  York  City  a  mob  threatened  to  hang 
Jay  Gould,  the  notorious  railroad  wrecker,  whom 
they  accused  of  a  conspiracy  to  withhold  and  al 
election  returns.  Violent  scenes  occurred  in 
other  cities.  But  at  last  the  long  agony  was  over/  I 


HAYES,  GARFIELD,  AND  ARTHUR  119 

The  official  count,  completed  on  the  14th  of  No 
vember,  gave  Cleveland  a  plurality  of  1,149 
votes  in  the  state  and  the  presidency. 

The  Plumed  Knight's  lance  was  shattered  in 
his  grasp,  and  the  victory  was  given  to  the  new 
comer  in  the  national  lists,  the  Man  of  Destiny 
from  New  York. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BATTLEDOEE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK 

ON  the  4th  of  March,  1885,  a  great  throng 
gathered  before  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol  to 
witness  the  inauguration  of  the  first  Democratic 
president  since  Buchanan.  Southerners  were 
present  in  much  larger  numbers  than  had  long 
been  customary  on  such  occasions,  and  mingled 
with  the  crowd  were  "not  a  few  gaunt  figures 
of  an  old-time  quaintness,  intense  and  fanatical 
partisans  from  remote  localities,  displaying  with 
a  sort  of  pride  the  long  white  beards  which,  years 
before,  they  had  vowed  never  to  shave  until  a 
Democratic  president  should  be  inaugurated." 
When  Cleveland  took  the  oath  of  office  from 
Chief -justice  Waite,  the  assembled  clans  exulted 
in  the  thought  that  after  weary  years  of  waiting 
they  had  at  last  passed  out  of  the  Wilderness  into 
the  Promised  Land. 

Republicans  had  indulged  in  gloomy  prophecies 
regarding  the  make-up  of  Cleveland's  cabinet; 
some  simple  souls  had  even  feared  that  the  results 
of  the  war  would  be  undone  and  the  negroes  re- 
enslaved.  Cleveland  quickly  confounded  all 
such  absurd  predictions.  His  selection  for  secre 
tary  of  state  was  Senator  Thomas  F.  Bayard, 
of  a  justly  famous  Delaware  family  that  for  five 
120 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  121 

generations  had  been  distinguished  in  national 
affairs.  The  secretary  of  war,  William  C. 
Endicott,  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  William  C. 
Whitney,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Daniel 
Manning,  and  the  postmaster-general,  William 
F.  Vilas,  were  all  Northern  men  of  fair  abilities, 
and  Vilas  had  been  a  Union  soldier.  Only  two 
members  were  from  the  South — Senator  L.  Q.  C. 
Lamar,  the  secretary  of  the  interior,  from  Mis 
sissippi,  and  Senator  Augustus  H.  Garland,  the 
attorney-general,  from  Arkansas.  Both  had  been 
active  Confederates,  but  were  now  patriotic 
Americans.  Lamar,  a  scholarly,  liberal-minded 
man,  had  won  high  encomiums  in  the  North  by 
a  sympathetic  oration  delivered  at  the  obsequies 
in  honor  of  Charles  Sumner. 

The  pressure  upon  the  new  president  for  posi 
tions  was  tremendous.  Democratic  spoilsmen 
hoped  that  he  would  make  a  clean  sweep.  As 
practically  every  one  of  some  110,000  offices  was 
in  the  hands  of  a  Republican,  the  temptation  for 
wholesale  removals  was  great.  But  Cleveland 

had  publicly  committed  himself  to  <jj^'i|, geryjce 

reform.  Certain  high  offices  whose  incumbents 
needed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  his  policies  he 
very  properly  intended  to  fill  with  Democrats. 
He  also  declared  that  he  meant  to  remove  "offen 
sive  partizans  and  unscrupulous  manipulators 
of  local  party  management."  Such  officers  had 
often  used  post-offices  and  other  government 
buildings  as  headquarters  for  political  work  and 
for  the  display  of  "disgusting  and  irritating 
placards. "  Cleveland's  .policy,  ^regarding  other 
offices  was  gradually  to  extend  the  civil  service 


RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

rules,  and  as  vacancies  occurred  outside  the  classi 
fied  list  to  fill  them  with  efficient  Democrats.  He 
quickly  found,  however,  that  he  could  not  de 
pend  upon  the  recommendations  furnished  by 
the  party  leaders.  It  is  related  that  when  a 
Democratic  senator  complained  because  the 
president  did  not  "move  more  expeditiously  in 
advancing  the  principles  of  Democracy,"  Cleve 
land  flashed  back:  "Ah,  I  suppose  you  mean  that 
I  should  appoint  two  horse-thieves  a  day  instead 
of  one."  Such  a  Mugwump  policy  was  disap 
pointing  to  men  who  had  expected  to  see  Cleve 
land  put  in  practice  "the  good  old  Democratic 
doctrine"  of  Andrew  Jackson.  A  North  Carolina 
senator  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  by  telling 
the  story  of  an  old  farmer  who  left  a  small  estate 
to  his  two  sons.  Settlement  of  the  estate  was  so 
protracted  by  the  court  that  in  disgust  the  elder 
son  broke  out:  "Durned  if  I  ain't  almost  sorry 
the  old  man  died." 

Extreme  advocates  of  civil  service  reform, 
men  who  desired  "the  millennium  right  away," 
were  almost  equally  dissatisfied.  Constant  drip 
ping  will  wear  away  the  hardest  stone.  Being 
forced  every  day  to  fight  anew  the  patronage 
battle  with  leaders  of  his  party,  Cleveland  re 
laxed  somewhat.  Some  of  his  subordinates  inter 
preted  the  phrase  "offensive  partizanship "  very 
liberally,  and  in  the  end  there  was  almost  a  clean 
sweep.  The  worst  state  of  affairs  existed  in  the 
post-office  department,  and  the  "axe"  of  Adlai 
E.  Stevenson  of  Illinois,  the  first  assistant  post 
master-general,  became  famous.  The  heads  of 
thousands  of  postmasters  fell  into  the  basket. 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  123 

On  the  other  hand,  Cleveland  enforced  the  law 
against  the  political  assessment  of  office-holders 
and  increased  the  classified  service  to  27,380 
places.  (^JhaJSKhol^civiL^erYice ..reform  .gained 
under  his  administration.  Years  later,  in  speak 
ing  of  this  time,  Cleveland  said  feelingly:  "You 
know  the  things  in  which  I  yielded,  but  no  one 
save  myself  can  ever  know  the  things  which  I 
resisted." 

The  suspension  of  officers  resulted  in  a  clash 
between  the  president  and  the  senate.  In  an 
effort  to  embarrass  Cleveland,  the  Republican 
majority  in  the  senate  passed  a  resolution  (Jan 
uary  25,  1886)  directing  the  attorney-general  to 
transmit  copies  of  all  papers  relating  to  the 
suspension  of  the  Federal  district  attorney  for 
the  southern  district  of  Alabama.  By  direction 
of  the  president,  Garland  refused,  and  in  a  special 
message  Cleveland  flatly  denied  the  senate's 
right  to  ask  for  such  papers.  The  senate  censured 
Garland,  and  showed  a  disposition  to  withhold 
the  confirmation  of  appointments.  In  the  end, 
however,  it  receded  and  repealed  what  remained 
of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act. 

-"-"At  no  time  during  Cleveland's  first  term  did 
the  Democrats  control  both  houses  of  congress; 
hence  the  enaction  of  legislation  along  purely 
party  lines  proved  impossible.  However,  a  num 
ber  of  important  acts  of  a  non-partisan  character 
passed  congress  and  received  the  president's 
signature.  One  of  these  dealt  with  the  presiden 
tial  succession.  Vice-president  Hendricks  died 
a  fortnight  before  the  meeting  of  the  first  congress 
under  Cleveland,  and,  as  the  senate  had  failed  to 


124    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

elect  a  president  pro  tempore,  there  existed  no 
constitutional  successor  to  the  presidential  office 
in  case  Cleveland  should  die  before  congress 
assembled.  The  possibility  of  such  a  lapse  had 
long  been  pointed  out,  but  congress  was  aroused 
at  last  to  the  desirability  of  providing  against  it. 
On  January  18,  1886,  a  bill  became  a  law  which 
fixed  the  line  of  succession  thus:  the  vice-presi 
dent,  the  secretaries  of  state,  treasury,  war, 
the  attorney-general,  the  secretary  of  the  navy, 
and  the  secretary  of  the  interior. 

A  year  later  congress  enacted  another  law  that 
was  designed  to  remedy  another  constitutional 
defect.  As  early  as  1800  an  attempt  had  been 

.  made  to  regulate  more  definitely  the  manner  of_ 
counting  the  electoral  votes,  but  it  and  all  subse 
quent  attempts  had  failed.  Even  the  perilous 
experience  of  the  disputed  election  had  not  brought 
about  the  desired  legislation.  The  act  that  now 
became  a  law  provides  that  each  state  shall 
finally  determine  every  contest  connected  with 
the  choice  of  its  electors.  Where  such  a  deter 
mination  has  been  made,  it  must  be  accepted; 
but,  in  case  of  a  conflict  of  tribunals,  that  return 
is  to  be  counted  which  the  two  houses  concur  in 
receiving.  In  case  they  cannot  concur,  that 
return  is  to  be  received  which  is  certified  by  the 
executive  of  the  state.  Unfortunately  even  this 
law  is  defective  in  some  respects  and  leaves  loop 
holes  for  future  disputes. 

A  measure  that  has  proved  of  far  greater  prac- 

t'tical  importance  than  either  of  the  acts  just  de 
scribed  was  the  Interstate  Commerce  £.ct.  The 
railroads  had  failed  to  take  warning  from  the 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  125 

"Granger  laws,"  and  gross  abuses  continued  in 
railway  management.  Not  only  did  the  companies 
often  charge  excessive  rates,  but  they  also  failed 
to  clemand  the  same  rate  from  different  shippers, 
thereby  helping  to  create  gigantic  business  com 
binations  that  sought  to  throttle  competition. 

The  most  famous  instance  of  a  corporation 
thus  fostered  was  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 
About  the  year  1862  two  brothers,  John  D.  and 
William  Rockefeller,  and  an  Englishman  named 
Samuel  Andrews  entered  into  a  partnership  at 
Cleveland  for  the  refining  of  petroleum,  then 
a  comparatively  new  industry.  For  years  the 
farmers  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania  had  known 
and  used  in  crude  form  a  kind  of  "rock  oil"  that 
was  found  floating  on  the  surface  of  streams  and 
ponds.  It  was  first  used  chiefly  as  a  liniment, 
and  in  bottled  form,  called  "Seneca  Oil,"  "Keer's 
Oil,"  etc.,  was  sold  all  over  the  United  States. 
Presently  its  inflammable  character  attracted 
attention,  and  in  1859  its  production  was  begun 
on  a  larger  scale.  The  oil  region  soon  became 
one  of  wild  speculation,  and  the  industry  expanded 
wonderfully.  The  Rockefeller- Andrews  partner 
ship  prospered  with  it,  developing  about  1870 
into  what  was  known  as  the  Standard  Oil  Com 
pany,  and  still  later  (1882)  as  the  Standard  Oil 
Trust. 

Not  content  with  ordinary  profits,  the  Rocke 
fellers  and  eleven  others  formed  a  South  Improve 
ment  Company,  which  entered  into  a  secret 
agreement  with  the  oil-carrying  railroads  to  the 
effect  that  the  railroads  should  carry  the  com 
pany's  oil  at  a  much  lower  rate  than  that  of 


126    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

competing  companies  and  should  help  in  other 
ways  to  crush  out  competitors.  The  signers  on 
the  part  of  the  railroads  were  Jay  Gould,  Thomas 
A.  Scott,  and  William  H.  Vanderbilt.  As  a 
result  of  the  agreement,  most  independent  pro 
ducers  were  forced  to  the  hard  alternative  of 
giving  up  their  business  altogether  or  of  selling 
out  at  a  low  price  to  the  South  Improvement 
Company.  Many  men  were  rendered  bankrupt; 
"the  annals  of  this  time  show  a  black  record  of 
ruin,  despair,  and  suicide."  Efforts  to  bring  the 
conspirators  to  justice  failed  because  of  the  skill 
of  their  lawyers  or  the  easy  virtue  of  public 
officials.  Public  opinion  was  so  aroused  that 
ostensibly  the  contract  between  the  railroads  and 
the  South  Improvement  Company  was  canceled, 
though  freight  discrimination  was  continued  as 
before.  By  1877  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
controlled  95  per  cent  of  all  the  oil  refined  in  the 
United  States,  and  could  raise  or  lower  prices  at 
will. 

The  case  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  is  illus 
trative  of  what  was  happening  in  many  other 
industries,  such  as  cottonseed  oil,  lead,  whiskey, 
cordage,  and  sugar.  Trust  defenders  urged  the 
advantages  gained  through  economies  in  large-scale 
production,  improved  machinery,  etc.;  but  the 
tendency  of  an  article  to  rise  in  price  after  it  had 
"gone  into  a  trust"  made  the  people  sceptical  as 
to  trust  benefits  to  the  general  public. 

It  was  seen  that  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the 
creation  of  tnistajinci,  monopolies  was  the  system 
of  railroad  "rebates  to  favored  shigpers,"and  a 
demand  developed~fof"Federal  legislation.  As 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  127 

early  as  1876  Representative  Hopkins  of  Penn 
sylvania  asked  for  a  house  committee  to  conduct 
an  investigation  of  the  charges  against  the  rail 
roads  with  a  view  to  reporting  a  bill  for  the  cor 
rection  of  the  evils.  Through  the  opposition  of 
Henry  B.  Payne  of  Ohio  and  other  friends  of 
Standard  Oil  and  similar  companies  the  matted 
was  finally  referred  to  the  committee  on  com 
merce.  This  committee  began  an  investigation 
which  was  never  completed;  even  the  evidence 
that  had  been  taken  was  stolen. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  decade,  in  the  course  of 
which  other  abortive  attempts  were  made,  a 
conference  committee  finally  reported  _a__bill 
(December,  1886)  providing^jpr  the  appointment 
of_a^ommission  of  live  members  with power  to 
investigate  the  management  of  railways  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce  and  to  denounce  unjust 
rates.  The  bill' forbade  rebates,  th^mposition 
of  a  greater  charge  for  a  "short  haul"  than  for 
a  "long  haul,"  and  ~tli^"po^mg"_of  freight 
revenues  by  competing  railway  Tines.  Haflway 
attorneys  both  in  and  out  of  congress  opposed 
the  bill,  and  expressed  great  concern  lest  the 
proposed  act  might  prove  unconstitutional.  But 
public  sentiment  was  deeply  roused.  The  bill 
passed  both  houses  and  became  a  law  by,  the 
signature  of  the  president  (January  21,  1887). 
Unfortunately  the  commission  was  not  granted 
sufficient  powers,  and  its  work  was  too  often 
circumscribed  by  jealous  if  not  corrupt  courts. 
In  circumventing  the  law  corporation  and  rail 
way  managers  displayed  a  Machiavellian  ingenu 
ity  that  was  only  equaled  by  their  dishonesty. 


128    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

Secret  rebates,  "gentlemen's  agreements,"  etc.  con 
tinued  to  be  great  evils. 

The  president  and  congress  were  often  at  odds; 
they  clashed  most  frequently  over  pension  legis 
lation,^  The  policy  of  granting  liberal  pensions  to 
CiviPWar  veterans  had  been  early  inaugurated, 
and  though  the  policy  in  general  was  laudable, 
gross  abuses  had  crept  in.  By  1885  the  pen 
sioners  numbered  345,125,  receiving  annually 
$65,171,937.  Among  this  number  were  many  men 
who  had  never  heard  the  whistle  of  a  hostile  bul 
let,  or  who  had  actually  deserted  from  the  service; 
men  who  had  been  dishonorably  discharged, 
others  who  had  been  accidentally  injured  while 
drunk,  even  malingerers  who  had  maimed  their 
own  hands  to  escape  fighting — all  managed  to 
find  a  place  on  the  pension  list. 

Applicants  whose  claims  were  rejected  by  the 
pension  office  were  in  the  habit  of  embodying 
their  claims  in  special  pension^  bills _that  were 
presented  to  congress.  In  a  single  sitting  the 
senate  once  passed  five  hundred  such  bills,  of 
course  without  due  consideration  of  their  merits, 
no  one  caring  or  daring  to  oppose  them.  Presi 
dent  Cleveland  made  a  careful  study  oLthe  sub 
ject  aricTcame  to  the  conclusion  that  the  system 
constituted  a  great  abuse.  In  all  he  vetoed  233 
of  the  worst  of  such  bills,  writing  on  one  occasion 
that  "we  are  dealing  with  pensions,  not  with 
gratuities."  In  February^J1887,  he  also. .vetoed. 
a  general  dependent  pension  bilL 

By  these  vetoes  Cleveland  roused  great  wrath 
among  undiscriminating  veterans,  and  his  oppo 
nents  did  their  best  to  fan  the  flame.  The  old 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  129 

soldier  was  pressed  into  service  as  a  pawn  in  the 
political  game.  Cleveland  was  denounced  as 
an  enemy  to  "veterans";  it  was  said  that  his 
policy  was  dictated  by  a  desire  to  please  "Rebels." 
The  fact  that  the  president  had  hired  a  substitute 
instead  of  enlisting  in  person  was  harped  upon 
whenever  possible. 

While  such  criticism  was  at  its  height  the  presi 
dent,  with  the  best  of  intentions,  blunderingly 
gave  still  greater  offense.  In  the  custody  of  the 
war  department  there  were  a  number  of  Con 
federate  and  recaptured  Union  flags  which  tEe 
adjutant-general  suggested  should  be  returned 
to  the  respective  states  in  which  the  regiments 
bearing  them  had  been  organized.  The  president 
approved  the  plan,  meaning  it  no  doubt  in  the 
spirit  of  Charles  Sumner's  bill  of  years  before  to 
the  effect  that  "the  names  of  battles  with  fel 
low-citizens  shall  not  be  continued  in  the  Army 
Register,  or  placed  on  the  regimental  colors  of 
the  United  States."  But  the  "  Rebel  Flag  Order  " 
created  a  tremendous  uproar  throughout  the 
North.  Scores  of  Grand  Army  posts  passed 
resolutions  denouncing  the  act.  The  "Rebel 
Sympathizer"  was  deluged  with  threats  of  per 
sonal  violence.  Still  Cleveland  would  probably 
have  persevered  in  his  purpose  had  it  not  been 
discovered  that  the  flags  could  not  be  returned 
without  authorization  from  congress.  Eighteen 
years  later  a  Republican  president  returned  the 
flags  without  exciting  a  ripple  of  protest. 

The  year  1886  was  notable  for  serious^  Jabor 
troubles  similar  to  those  of  1877.  Strikes  occurred 
m  all  parts  of  the  country,  the  greatest  centering 


130    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

in  St.  Louis  and  Chicago.  In  Chicago  the  strike 
spread  until  tens  of  thousands  of  laborers  were  idle. 
Conditions  were  aggravated  by  a  knot  of  desperate 
anarchists,  mostly  of  foreign  birth.  On  the  night 
of  the  4th  of  May,  while  the  police  were  attempting 
to  disperse  a  mass  meeting  in  Haymarket  Square, 
a  bomb  was  hurled  into  their  ranKs~mortally 
wounding  seven  and  injuring  many  others.  Seven 
anarchists  were  subsequently  sentenced  to  death 
for  inciting  the  outrage,  and  four  were  executed. 
One  of  the  condemned  men  committed  suicide, 
while  two  had  their  sentences  commuted  to  im 
prisonment  for  life.  Some  years  later  both  were 
fully  pardoned  by  Governor  Altgeld.  An  eighth 
anarchist,  who  had  been  sentenced  to  fifteen  years* 
imprisonment,  was  also  pardoned  at  the  same 
time. 

Among  the  forces  active  in  this  period  of  labor 
troubles  were  the  Knights  of  Labor.  This  organ 
ization  was  founded  in  Philadelphia  in  1869  by 
certain  garment  cutters  who  hoped  to  unite  all 
wage-earners  into  one  great  body  irrespective  of 
sex,  color,  creed,  or  nationality.  By  1881  the 
order  had  grown  until  its  membership  was  upwards 
of  a  million.  Its  program  included  the  securing 
of  an  eight-hour  day,  protective  legislation  in 
behalf  of  laborers  engaged  in  dangerous  occupa 
tions,  employers'  liability  laws,  the  single  tax  on 
land,  and  the  establishment  of  government  labor 
bureaus.  The  Knights  did  not  form  an  inde 
pendent  political  party,  but  endeavored  to  throw 
their  strength  to  the  party  that  would  promise 
most  to  labor.  The  failure  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  strike  in  this  year  weakened  the  order, 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  131 

as  did  the  sympathy  shown  by  some  of  its  mem 
bers  for  the  Chicago  anarchists.  As  the  order 
declined,  its  place  was  more  or  less  taken  by 
the  great  American  Federation  of  Labor.  The 
Federation  was  composed  of  already  existing 
unions,  and  has  endeavored  in  the  main  to  avoid 
political  complications.  The  methods  of  these 
orders  have  not  always  been  above  criticism,  but, 
in  view  of  the  great  concentration  of  capital,  they 
seem  essential  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of 
labor.  Particularly  praiseworthy  has  been  their 
work  in  securing  legislation  restricting  the  labor 
of  women  and  children. 

President  Cleveland  believed  that  many  of  the 
economic  evils  of  the  day  were  due  to  the  protec 
tive  tariff,  which  remained  at  practically  the  high 
point  reached  during  the  Civil  War.  He  believed 
that  the  laboring  man  did  not  obtain  his  share  of 
the  profits  due  to  the  tax,  and,  furthermore,  he 
feared  that  the  surplus  in  the  treasury,  estimated 
for"TEe  coming  year  at  $140,000,000,  was  bad  for 
business  because  it  rendered  idle  too  large  a  part 
of  the  nation's  circulating  medium.  With  a 
boldness  that  did  him  honor,  he  determined  to 
devote  all  of  his  regular  message  of  December, 
1887,  to  the  need  of  tariff  reform^  His  friends 
were  aghast  at  the  proposal.  They  said  that 
such  a  step  would  rouse  the  wrath  of  powerful 
interests  and  would  result  in  the  loss  of  the  next 
election.  But  Cleveland  said:  "It  is  more  im 
portant  to  the  country  that  this  message  should 
be  delivered  to  Congress  and  the  people  than  that 
I  should  be  re-elected  president."  "It  is  a  con 
dition  which  confronts  us,  not  a  theory,"  he  said 


132    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

in  the  message,  and  he  recommended  a  reduction 
of  the  duties  on  raw  materials  and  especially  upon 
raw  wool. 

The  president  was  right  in  believing  that  the 
tariff  needed  reduction,  but  the  people  were  not 
yet  educated  to  the  step.  The  Republicans 
gleefully  snatched  up  the  gage  that  had  been 
thrown  down  and  raised  the  alarm  cry  of  "Free 
Trade  and  the  destruction  of  American  indus 
tries."  When  the  Democratic  house  passed  the 
Mills  Bill  providing  for  lower  tariff  duties,  the 
Republican  senate  declined  to  accept  it,  and 
ultimately  retorted  with  a  bill  that  increased 
duties.  The  tariff  question  became  the  leading 
issue  in  the  campaign  of  1888. 

For  their  standard-bearers  (since  Blaine  de 
clined  to  run)  the  Republicans  selected  Benjamin 
Harrison  of  Indiana  and  Levi  P.  Morton  of  New 
York.  Harrison  was  a  grandson  of  President 
William  Henry  Harrison.  He  was  a  veteran  of 
the  Civil  War,  a  lawyer  of  high  reputation,  and 
had  served  a  term  in  the  senate.  The  Demo 
crats  renominated  Cleveland,  and  chose  for  their 
vice-presidential  candidate  Allen  G.  Thurman 
of  Ohio.  Thurman  had  seen  long  service  in  the 
senate  and  was  one  of  the  ablest  constitutional 
lawyers  who  ever  sat  in  that  body.  He  was  a 
sturdy  old  Roman,  and  his  use  of  a  red  ban 
danna  handkerchief  gave  a  touch  of  color  to  the 
campaign. 

Roused  by  the  danger  to  their  interests,  the 
manufacturers  rallied  to  the  Republican  sup 
port,  and  there  was  no  lack  of  funds  in  the  cam 
paign  chest.  New  York  and  Indiana  were  be- 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  133 

lieved  to  be  the  pivotal  states,  and  every  effort 
was  made  by  both  parties  to  carry  them.  The 
Republicans  deluged  Indiana  with  money,  and 
from  the  treasurer  of  their  national  committee, 
W.  W.  Dudley,  emanated  the  advice:  "Divide 
the  floaters  into  blocks  of  five  and  put  a  trusted 
man  in  charge  of  these  five,  with  the  necessary 
funds,  and  make  him  responsible  that  none  get 
away,  and  that  all  vote  our  ticket." 

It  was  generally  believed  that  corruption  by 
both  parties  was  conducted  on  a  greater  scale  in 
this  campaign  than  in  any  that  preceded  it.  The 
abuse  alarmed  patriotic  men  in  both  parties, 
and  important  ballot  reforms  resulted.  Hitherto 
the  absence  of  secrecy  in  voting  "opened  a  wide 
door  to  bribery  and  intimidation."  A  party 
worker  would  place  a  ballot  in  a  man's  hand, 
march  him  to  the  polls,  and  watch  him  deposit 
it;  the  worker  could  thus  be  certain  of  hav 
ing  obtained  "value  received."  Weak  or  non 
existent  registration  laws  also  rendered  possible 
the  most  flagrant  "repeating."  Gangs  of  men 
would  go  from  one  polling  place  to  another,  voting 
at  each.  The  evil  was  particularly  marked  in 
cities,  where  the  legitimate  voters  were  more  or 
less  strangers  to  each  other.  The  author  once 
knew  personally  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  who 
confessed  that  while  home  on  a  furlough  he  voted 
forty -nine  times  for  Lincoln  and  Johnson.  Just 
prior  to  the  election  of  1888  Massachusetts 
adopted  the  secret  or  "Australian"  ballot,  which 
greatly  diminished  the  grosser  forms  of  election 
corruption.  Before  the  next  presidential  election 
thirty-four  other  states  adopted  secret  ballot  laws 


134    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

of  varying  merit.  The  laws  did  much  to  eliminate 
election  cheating  and  corruption,  but  proved  less 
successful  than  reformers  had  hoped.  The  inge 
nuity  of  unscrupulous  politicians  devised  ways 
of  discovering  whether  a  "floater"  had  held  to 
his  bargain,  while,  particularly  in  the  slums  of 
cities  and  in  backward  country  districts,  the 
letter  of  the  law  was  not  always  enforced  by 
election  officers.  Then,  too,  it  is  unfortunately 
a  trait  of  human  nature  that  a  man  may  be 
dishonorable  enough  to  sell  his  vote  but  "honor 
able"  enough  to  abide  by  the  terms  of  the  corrupt 
bargain. 

In  New  York  Cleveland  suffered  from  the 
covert  hostility  of  Tammany  Hall  and  the  open 
hostility  of  certain  newspapers,  notably  the  New 
York  Sun,  then  edited  by  the  vindictive  Dana. 
The  opposition  within  the  party  centered  around 
David  B.  Hill,  "the  Sage  of  Wolfert's  Roost," 
who  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  governor. 
Hill  was  accustomed  to  say  proudly,  "I  am  a 
Democrat";  but  he  and  his  friends  treacherously 
arranged  trades  whereby  Democratic  support 
for  Harrison  was  bartered  for  Republican  support 
for  Hill;  flags  bearing  the  inscription  "Harrison 
and  Hill"  were  brazenly  displayed  all  over  the 
state. 

A  campaign  coup  whereby  the  English  minister, 
Sir  Lion^l_^Saiiky^e-West,was_tricked  into  ad 
vising  a  supposea  naturalized  fellow  countryman 
to  vote  for  Cleveland  as  the  candidate  more 
favorable  to  British  interests  also  aided  the 
Republicans.  The  Republicans  made  much  of 
the  letter,  alleging  that  it  convicted  the  Demo- 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  135 

crats,  with  their  tariff  reform  ideas,  of  playing 
into  the  hands  of  foreign  nations.  Democratic 
politicians  were  greatly  exercised  over  the  inci 
dent,  fearing  that  it  would  lose  them  part  of  the 
Irish  vote.  For  once  Cleveland  lost  his  head  and 
foolishly  demanded  Sir  Lionel's  recall;  when  the 
British  ministry  demurred,  he  sent  the  diplomatist 
his  passports.  II 

But  all  such  efforts  were  in  vain.  Harrison  ^^L 
carried  both  Indiana  and  New  York  by  small 
majorities  and  received  233  electoral  votes  to 
168  for  Cleveland.  The  Democratic  treachery 
in  New  York  had  succeeded,  for  Hill  was  elected 
by  about  eighteen  thousand,  while  Harrison  would 
have  been  defeated  without  the  staters  36  elec 
toral  votes. 

The  result  occasioned  great  rejoicings  among 
the  victors,  for  they  believed  that  the  only  enemy 
who  had  defeated  them  in  many  years  was  dis 
posed  of  forever.  On  the  night  before  Harrison's 
inauguration  a  crowd  of  Republicans  of  the  baser 
sort  gathered  close  to  the  White  House  and  sang 
discordantly  a  ditty  which  had  been  popular 
during  the  campaign: 

"  Down  in  the  cornfield  hear  that  mournful  sound, 
All  the  Democrats  are  weeping — Grover  's  in  the  cold,  cold 
ground." 

Benjamin  Harrison,  the  twenty-third  president, 
was  an  abler  lawyer  than  his  predecessor,  but  he 
was jiot  so  striking  a^personality.  In  appearance 
he  was  sho^C~w?^aDo^y^abii6rmally  long  for 
his  legs,  and  with  a  custom  of  holding  his  chin  down 


136    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

upon  a  somewhat  protuberant  chest — a  man 
nerism  that  led  his  enemies  to  compare  him  to 
a  pouter  pigeon.  He  was  an  unusually  effective 
public  speaker  and  possessed  acute  intellectual 
ability.  To  his  family  and  to  a  few  chosen  friends 
he  was  genial  and  warm-hearted,  but  the  demands 
made  upon  him  by  politicians  caused  him  to  adopt 
towards  them  and  others  a  cold,  reserved  de 
meanor.  The  late  Senator  Hoar  wrote:  "Elaine 
would  refuse  a  request  in  a  way  that  would  seem 
like  doing  a  favor.  Harrison  would  grant  a  request 
in  a  way  which  seemed  as  if  he  were  denying  it." 
An  American  historian,  not  then  well  known, 
once  called  at  the  White  House  in  company  with 
the  president's  son  Russell  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  certain  facts  regarding  the  presi 
dent's  grandfather,  William  Henry  Harrison. 
The  president  was  excessively  frigid  and  had 
little  to  say  until  his  son,  losing  patience,  said 
sharply:  "Father,  there's  no  politics  in  this!" 
Thereupon  the  president's  reserve  melted,  and 
he  became  talkative  and  even  genial.  As  a 
result  of  such  incidents,  it  was  popularly  said 
that  "Harrison  sweats  ice-water." 

Harrison's  attitude  toward  the  civil  service 
was  at  first  disappointing  to  reformers.  To  the 
position  of  first  assistant-postmaster-general  he 
called  J.  S.  Clarkson  of  Iowa,  a  spoilsman  whose 
guillotine  equaled  "Adlai's  axe."  In  a  single 
year  the  new  "headsman"  decapitated  thirty  thou 
sand  officials.  Harrison  was  also  guilty  of  flagrant 
nepotism,  giving  office  to  a  large  number  of 
relatives  by  blood  or  marriage.  He  refused  to 
extend  the  civil  service  rules  to  the  census  office, 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  137 

with  the  result  that  the  superintendent  complained 
that  he  was  "waist  deep  in  congressmen."  He 
likewise  failed  to  check  the  political  activities 
of  office-holders;  in  the  convention  that  renom- 
inated  him  there  wrere  142  Federal  appointees. 
On  the  other  hand,  within  the  classified  list, 
Harrison  gave  strength  to  the  reform  movement. 
He  rendered  the  cause  of  efficient  government 
inestimable  service  by  appointing  Theodore 
RopseYfilLtQ_the  civiLservice  commission.  Roose 
velt  revivified  the  commission,  and  gave  the 
reform  a  standing  with  the  public  it  had  never 
before  enjoyed.  "No  longer  was  there  an  air  of 
apology;  blow  was  given  for  blow."  In  a  denunci 
ation  of  political  assessments  Roosevelt  declared 
that  much  of  the  money  thus  secured  was  retained 
"by  the  jackals  who  have  collected  it."  In  a 
public  address  he  characterized  an  attack  by 
Clarkson  upon  the  commission  as  "loose  diatribe 
equally  compounded  of  rambling  declamation 
and  misstatement."  In  the  end  Harrison  dis 
missed  Clarkson  and  broke  with  Senator  Quay 
and  other  leading  spoilsmen. 

Almost  of  necessity  Harrison  selected  Elaine 
as  secretary  of  state.  It  was  a  post  that  admi 
rably  suited  the  "Plumed  Knight's"  tastes, 
for  he  enjoyed  doing  large  things  in  a  large  way. 
Prophets  correctly  predicted  that  under  him  the 
country  would  have  a  vigorous  foreign  policy. 

An  opportunity  for  testing  the  new  secretary's 
diplomatic  mettle  was  already  at  hand.  At  this 
time  Germany  was  entering  upon  a  policy  of 
colonial  aggrandizement  and  was  searching  the 
seven  seas  for  land  that  had  not  yet  been  seized 


138    EECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

by  other  powers.  The  eyes  of  the  German  foreign 
office  fell  upon  the  Samoan  Islands  in  the  southern 
Pacific.  Taking  as  a  pretext  a  drunken  brawl 
between  some  German  sailors  and  Samoans,  the 
Germans  deposed  and  deported  the  native  king, 
Malietoa,  and  set  up  in  his  place  a  creature  of 
their  own  named  Tamasese.  The  Samoans  re 
mained  loyal  to  Malietoa  and  defied  the  Germans. 

Both  England  and  the  United  States  had  com 
mercial  interests  in  the  islands  that  were  opposed 
to  German  absorption,  and  in  1872  the  United 
States  had  been  granted  the  harbor  of  Pago  Pago 
for  a  coaling  station.  The  consuls  of  both  nations 
protested  against  the  German  action.  On  one 
occasion  the  commander  of  the  American  gunboat 
Adams,  a  belligerent  Irishman  named  Leary,  went 
so  far  as  to  run  his  vessel  between  the  German  ship 
Adler  and  a  native  position  which  the  Germans 
were  about  to  shell.  Later  an  American  news 
paper  correspondent  named  Klein  led  a  party  of 
Samoans  who  inflicted  (December  18,  1888) 
a  severe  defeat  upon  a  German  landing  party. 
The  Germans  thereupon  shelled  and  burned  in 
discriminately,  regardless  of  American  property, 
and  offered  insults  to  the  American  flag. 

In  response  to  a  request  from  the  American 
consul,  the  Cleveland  government  sent  out  an 
American  squadron  under  Admiral  Kimberly. 
A  German  squadron  lay  anchored  off  Apia. 
Rumors  of  a  clash  between  the  two  reached  the 
United  States  and  roused  great  excitement. 
In  reality,  there  had  been  only  a  battle  of  the 
elements.  A  terrific  typhoon  had  swept  over  the 
islands  (March  16,  1889),  destroying  or  disabling 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  139 

every  vessel  in  the  two  squadrons.  All  thoughts 
of  war  were  put  aside,  and  Admiral  Kimberly  took 
temporary  possession  of  Apia  to  preserve  order. 

Chancellor  Bismark  now  proposed  that  the 
dispute  be  submitted  to  a  conference,  expecting 
doubtless  to  gain  his  ends  by  the  blustering 
diplomacy  for  which  he  was  famous.  The  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  accepted,  and  such  a 
conference  met  in  Berlin  on  the  29th  of  April. 
Bismark  was  determined  to  gain  a  concession 
of  German  predominance,  and  resorted  to  his 
usual  bullying  tactics.  The  American  representa 
tives  reported  to  Washington  that  the  chancellor 
was  very  irritable.  Blaine  cabled  back:  "The 
extent  of  the  Chancellor's  irritability  is  not  the 
measure  of  American  rights."  Ultimately  Ger 
many  modified  her  claims  and  consented  to  the 
restoration  of  Malietoa  and  to  the  establishment 
of  a  tripartite  protectorate  over  the  islands.  A 
decade  later  the  agreement  was  rescinded,  Eng 
land  waived  all  claims,  and  the  islands  were  divided 
between  the  United  States  and  Germany. 

The  American  part  in  the  Samoan  imbroglio 
caused  widespread  comment  abroad  and  was 
particularly  pleasing  to  England,  which  was 
beginning  to  resent  German  aggressiveness.  The 
episode  turned  attention  to  the  need  of  building 
up  the  infant  navy,  and  during  Harrison's  admin 
istration  many  new  vessels  were  authorized. 
The  chief  historical  significance  of  the  affair  lies, 
however,  in  the  fact  that  the  United  States  threw 
aside  old  precedents  and  insisted  upon  her  right 
to  participate  in  affairs  outside  what  had  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  the  American  sphere  of  influence. 


140    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

Secretary  Elaine  was  less  successful  in  his  at 
tempt  to  establish  the  principle  of  a  closed  sea  for 
Bering  Sea.  The  primary  object  in  contending 
for  such  a  principle  was  to  enable  the  United 
States  to  protect  the  diminishing  herds  of  fur 
seals  against  Canadian  and  other  poachers.  Great 
Britain  objected  peremptorily  to  the  seizure  of 
Canadian  sealing  vessels  that  ventured  into  the 
sea,  and  the  dispute,  which  had  dragged  on  for 
some  years,  was  ultimately  submitted  to  a  mixed 
tribunal,  which  refused  to  uphold  the  American 
claim  and  held  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  in  those  waters  ended  "outside  the  ordi 
nary  three-mile  limit." 

In  a  quarrel  with  Italy  resulting  from  the  lynch 
ing  of  eleven  Italians  in  New  Orleans  for  alleged 
complicity  in  the  assassination  of  the  chief  of 
police,  Blaine  upheld  the  dignity  of  the  United 
States.  He  also  emerged  with  credit  from  a  quarrel 
with  Chili.  The  Chilean  trouble  arose  out  of  a 
revolution  against  the  authority  of  President 
Balmaceda.  The  American  department  of  state 
refused  to  recognize  the  rebels  or  Congression- 
alists,  and  this  aroused  much  indignation  among 
them.  In  May,  1891,  a  ship  called  the  Itata, 
which  had  been  chartered  by  the  Congressional- 
ists,  was  seized  at  San  Diego  for  violating  neu 
trality  laws  by  taking  on  munitions  of  war. 
The  crew  overpowered  the  United  States  officers, 
and  the  Itata  escaped.  The  cruiser  Charleston 
was  ordered  in  pursuit,  and  the  Congressionalists 
sent  out  a  cruiser  to  protect  the  fleeing  vessel. 
A  battle  was  expected,  but  peace  was  preserved, 
for,  though  the  Itata  escaped  to  Chili,  the  Congres- 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  141 

sionalists  unwillingly  surrendered  her  to  the 
United  States.  This  episode  bred  bad  blood 
between  the  two  peoples.  The  situation  grew 
yet  more  serious  when  the  Congressionalist  cause 
triumphed  and  Santiago  fell.  Many  of  the 
Balmacedists,  to  save  their  lives,  took  refuge  in 
the  American  legation.  Their  surrender  was 
demanded  but  firmly  refused. 

While  popular  feeling  was  thus  inflamed  a  mob 
of  Chileans  at  Valparaiso  fell  upon  a  party  of 
American  seamen  on  shore  leave,  and,  aided 
by  the  police,  killed  or  wounded  a  score  of  them. 
Elaine  demanded  an  apology  and  an  indemnity. 
While  the  matter  was  still  pending,  the  Chilean 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Senor  Matta,  unwisely 
made  public  a  document  in  which  he  reflected 
insultingly  upon  the  president  of  the  United 
States  and  other  American  officers.  President 
Harrison  was  already  in  a  belligerent  mood  but 
had  been  held  back  by  Blaine.  Both  now  agreed 
that  the  time  had  come  for  vigorous  action. 
They  ordered  a  large  squadron  to  Pacific  waters 
and  dispatched  (January  21,  1892)  an  ultimatum 
demanding  an  indemnity,  an  apology  for  Matta's 
indiscretion,  and  a  safe  conduct  for  the  refugees 
in  the  legation.  Chili  complied. 

The  only  other  diplomatic  affair  of  much  im 
portance  during  the  Harrison  administration  had 
to  do  with  the  affairs  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 
These  rich  islands,  first  brought  prominently  to 
civilized  attention  by  Captain  James  Cook  a 
century  before,  now  contained  a  considerable 
foreign  white  population,  largely  American,  while 
the  Kanakas  themselves  had  attained  a  fair  degree 


142    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

of  civilization.  The  queen,  Liliuokalani,  a  woman 
of  education  and  charm  but  a  stickler  for  divine 
right,  planned  to  subvert  the  existing  liberal 
constitution  and  promulgate  another  less  favorable 
to  popular  rights  and  to  foreigners.  The  ministry 
refused  (January,  1893)  to  comply  with  her  wishes 
and  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  the  throne 
vacant.  A  provisional  government  was  formed, 
headed  by  Sanford  B.  Dole,  a  justice  of  the 
supreme  court,  and  this  body  called  upon  the 
American  minister,  John  L.  Stevens,  for  help 
in  preserving  order.  Sailors  and  marines  landed 
from  the  cruiser  Boston,  and  Stevens  formally 
recognized  the  new  republic  and  proclaimed  it 
under  the  protection  of  the  United  States.  "The 
Hawaiian  pear  is  now  fully  ripe,"  Stevens  re 
ported  to  Washington,  "and  this  is  the  golden 
hour  for  the  United  States  to  pluck  it."  The 
administration  partially  disavowed  Stevens's 
course,  but  Harrison  and  John  W.  Foster,  who 
had  succeeded  Elaine,  desired  to  annex  the 
islands.  By  the  president's  direction  Foster 
negotiated  a  treaty  to  that  effect  with  a  Hawaiian 
commission  that  had  come  to  Washington  for 
that  purpose. 

The  American  public  generally  favored  the 
treaty.  It  was  apparent  that  the  islands,  lying 
as  they  did  in  the  heart  of  the  Pacific,  possessed 
much  commercial  and  strategic  value  and  would 
serve  admirably  as  a  half-way  house  on  the  way 
to  the  Orient.  But  before  the  senate  acted  upon 
the  treaty,  the  Harrison  government  retired  from 
office.  Grover  Cleveland  believed  that  the 
Hawaiian  monarchy  had  been  subverted  by  the 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  143 

active  aid  of  the  American  minister  and  through 
"the  intimidation  caused  by  the  presence  of  an 
armed  naval  force  of  the  United  States."  The 
heiress-apparent  to  the  Hawaiian  throne,  Princess 
Kaiulani,  a  charming  dark-eyed  girl,  had  appeared 
in  the  United  States  to  plead  the  cause  of  her 
house  and  made  a  great  impression  upon  the 
president  and  Mrs.  Cleveland.  Cleveland  not 
only  withdrew  the  treaty lofjmnex a i  ion,  but  offered 
to  restore  "Queen  Lil,"  provided  she  would  grant 
an  amnesty.  This  the  vindictive  woman  refused 
to  do;  she  was  determined  to  have  the  blood  of 
some  of  her  enemies.  Congress  failed  to  support 
the  new  policy,  and  ultimately  Cleveland  had  to 
recognize  the  republic,  which  was  then  firmly 
established.  The  desire  for  union  with  the 
United  States  still  persisted  in  Hawaii,  however, 
especially  among  the  ruling  foreign  class.  In 
July,  1898,  in  the  midst  of  the  war  with  Spain, 
the  islands  were  formally  annexed  by  joint- 
resolution  of  congress  as  in  the  case  of  Texas. 

The  first  congress  under  Harrison  was  notable 
for  important  legislation.  The  Republicans  now 
had  a  majority  in  both  branches  of  congress,  and 
in  the  house,  Speaker  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine, 
who  became  known  as  the  "Czar,"  repressed 
Democratic  filibustering  with  an  iron  hand. 
A^ForceBill,"  designed  to  protect  colored  voters^ 
in  the  SoutF,  served  u>  revive  secHonaTITnTmosities 
but  failed  to  pass  the  senate.  A^dependent _j)en^ 
sion  Jjil^along  the  lines  of  the  one  vetoed—by — 
CleVelanJl)ecame  a  law  (June  27,  1890L__Under 
its  operation^he^annuaTpension  outlay  increased 
in  four  years  from  eighty-eight  millions  to  one 


—  j  —  > 
' 


144    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

hundred  and  fifty-nine  millions.  An  anti-lottery 
law,  aimed  at  the  notorious  Louisiana  Lottery 
Company,  which  had  long  misused  the  United 
States  mails  in  its  nefarious  operations  despite 
state  laws  against  it,  an  original  package  law 
regulating  interstate  shipments  of  liquors,  and 
a  law  forfeiting  land  grants  made  to  railways  that 
had  failed  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  the  contract 
were  also  enacted.  But  the  measures  that  require 
most  attention  were  the  Sherman  Silver  Act, 
the  Sherman  Anti-trust  Act,  and  the  McKinley 
Tariff  Act. 

The  Sherman  Silver  Act,  passed  in  1890,  was  a 
concession  J&JJie  popular  demand  for  die  larger 
use  of  silver  as  a  circulating  medium.  It  was  so 
called  because  Senator  Sherman  of  Ohio  was  the 
most  active  membe^  of  the  joint  committee  that 
framed  it,  though  he  gave  the  measure  a  reluc 
tant  support.  The  law  repealed  the  Bland-  Allison 
Act  of  1878  andT  provided  that  each  month  the 
government  should  purchase  four  and  one-half 
million  ounces  of  silver  and  issue  against  it  legal 
tender  notes  redeemable  on  demand  in  "coin," 
either  gold  or  silver  at  the  discretion  of  the  sec 
retary  of  the  treasury.  The  ratio  between  the 
two  metals  was  fixed  at  sixteen  to  one,  although 
the  market  ratio  was  about  twenty  to  one.  The 
measure  did  not  go  far  enough  to  satisfy  the 
members  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance  and  the  mine 
owners  of  the  West,  but  it  alarmed  conservative 
financiers. 

The  Anti-trust  Act  was  designed  to  meet  a 
popular  demand  for  the  regulation  of  great  trusts 
and  monopolies  that  were  choking  out  competition. 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  145 

The  act  was  partly  a  result  of  an  investigation 
made  by  a  congressional  committee  in  1888-89, 
which  had  brought  to  light  some  startling  facts 
regarding  the  operations  of  the  Sugar  Trust, 
the  Standard  Oil  Trust,  and  the  dressed  meat 
combination,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  Armour 
and  Company  of  Chicago.  Similar  investigations 
producing  similar  results  had  also  been  made 
by  certain  state  legislatures.  Senator  Sherman 
introduced  the  bill,  and  it  usually  goes  by  his 
name,  but  he  probably  introduced  it  by  request, 
and  the  judiciary  committee  radically  recon 
structed  it.  It  received  strong  popular  support, 
for  thousands  of  business  men  had  felt  the  heavy 
hand  of  the  various  combinations,  and  millions 
of  people  were  paying  monopoly  prices.  The 
bill  passed  by  a  non-partisan  vote,  though  many 
sleek  senators  and  representatives  affected  to 
doubt  its  constitutionality.  It  held  illegal  and 
provided  penalties  against  combinations  in  the 
form  of  trusts  and  conspiracies  in  restraint  of 
interstate  trade. 

The  law  proved  for  a  considerable  period  little 
more  than  mere  lip  service  in  the  people's  cause. 
It  did  not  have  "teeth  enough,"  and  courts  that 
interpreted  it  too  often  displayed  more  regard  for 
private  interests  than  for  those  of  the  public.  For 
more  than  a  decade  the  law  was  allowed  to  lie 
almost  dormant.  It  is  true  that  it  helped  to  make 
the  "trust  agreement"  unfashionable,  but  "com 
munities  of  interest"  and  "holding  companies" 
chartered  in  complaisant  states,  particularly  New 
Jersey,  took  its  place.  The  Standard  Oil  Trust, 
for  example,  forsook  the  trust  agreement  in  1892; 


146    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

a  "community  of  interest"  between  nine  control 
ling  stockholders  held  the  business  together  until 
1899,  when  the  device  of  a  holding  company  was 
resorted  to. 

The  same  congress  that  enacted  the  Sherman 
law  passed  another  act  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
tariff  reformers,  served  to  tighten  the  hold  of  blood- 
\^  sucking  monopolies  upon  the  people.  This  was  the 
McKmley_Tarifl[Act,j so  named  from  the  chairman 
aPEEe  houslTcolmmtiEee  on  ways  and  means  that 
framed  it,  Representative  William  McKinley  of 
Ohio.  The  success  of  the  Republicans  in  the 
election  of  1888  was  interpreted  by  them  as  a 
mandate  to  raise  the  duties  on  imports  to  a  yet 
higher  point,  and  the  bill  was  a  very  radical  one. 
It  laid  heavy  duties  upon  necessities  of  life,  com- 
nioHTties  meet  in  every  household,  and  the  aver 
age  rate  was  upwards  of  50  tper  cent,  its  chief 
redeeming  feature  was  that  it  made~sugar  free, 
but  it  provided  for  a  bounty  to  home  producers, 
and  levied  a  duty  of  one-tenth  of  a  cent  a  pound 
on  sugar  coming  from  countries  that  paid  bounties 
on  sugar  production. 

Secretary  Elaine,  who  had  never  been  accused 
of  being  a  free-trader,  protested  vigorously  against 
some  of  the  bill's  provisions.  He  declared  that 
there  was  "not  a  section  or  a  line  in  the  entire 
bill  that  will  open  a  market  for  another  bushel  of 
wheat  or  another  barrel  of  pork."  He  urged 
trade  concessions  to  foreign  countries  that  would 
admit  our  commodities  on  favorable  terms,  but 
artfully  described  the  plan  as  "reciprocity"  in 
order  not  to  alarm  protectionists.  Most  of  his 
protests  went  unheeded,  and  the  reciprocity 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  147 

clause  that  was  finally  grafted  upon  the  bill  was 
of  a  negative  character.  Instead  of  authorizing 
the  president  to  reduce  rates  in  return  for  con 
cessions,  it  empowered  him  to  impose  discrim 
inating  duties  in  case  reciprocity  was  withheld. 

The  bill  was  framed  in  fulfillment  of  the  new 
theory  that  high  duties  and  high  prices  were  a 
distinct  advantage  to  the  country.  It  was  justly 
characterized  as  "protection  run  mad."  Osten 
sibly  it  was  designed  primarily  to  aid  the  laboring 
man,  but  it  was  soon  seen  that  the  chief  benefi 
ciaries  were  the  manufacturers.  Organized  com 
binations  that  already  controlled  a  given  com 
modity  on  which  tariff  rates  were  raised  hastened 
to  increase  the  price,  being  safe  in  doing  so  be 
cause  the  tariff  wall  precluded  competition  from 
abroad.  In  industries  that  had  not  yet  entered 
a  trust,  producers  met  together  and  over  sumptu 
ous  dinner  tables  agreed  that  on  such  and  such 
a  date  the  price  of  their  commodity  should  be 
raised  to  such  and  such  a  price.  Even  before  the 
bill  became  a  law  prices  advanced  sharply.  Arti 
cles  that  were  not  mentioned  in  the  law  were 
sympathetically  affected.  Soon  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  families  began  to  feel  the  pinch  of 
a  higher  cost  of  living.  The  increase  was  felt 
the  more  keenly  because  the  manufacturers 
usually  forgot,  while  counting  their  increased 
profits,  to  raise  correspondingly  or  at  all  the  wages 
of  the  laborers  in  whose  interests  the  measure  was 
supposed  to  have  been  passed. 

The  law  proved,  as  Elaine  had  predicted,  a 
protection  that  would  "protect  the  Republican 
Party  into  a  speedy  retirement."  Other  causes 


148    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

such  as  the  Force  Bill  and  congressional  extrav 
agance  played  a  part,  but  the  McKinley  Bill 
was  the  chief  factor  in  producing  a  political 
cataclysm  unequaled  since  the  "Tidal  Wave"  of 
1874.  In  the  congressional  election  of  1890  only 
88  Republicans  were  returned  to  the  house,  as 
against  235  Democrats,  while  the  Republican 
majority  in  the  senate  was  reduced  from  14  to 
six.  McKinley  himself  was  defeated  for  re-election 
and  was  forced  into  temporary  retirement. 

A  notable  feature  of  this  election  was  the  ap 
pearance  of  a  new  party  which  elected  nine  repre 
sentatives  and  two  senators.  There  had  been 
weak  third  parties  before,  such  as  the  Green- 
backers  and  the  Prohibitionists,  but  the  "  People's 
Party/'  as  it  later  came  to  be  called,  developed 
/  strength  enough  to  carry  states  and  cast  electoral 
y  votes.  It  was  made  up  of  Greenbackers,  Gran 
gers,  and  Farmers'  Alliance  men,  aided  in  some 
instances  by  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Its  strength 
lay  in  the  West  and  South,  its  chief  center  being 
Kansas,  the  mother  of  radical  movements.  Its 
grievances,  though  often  fanciful,  had  a  sub 
stratum  of  real  justification;  the  remedies  it 
proposed,  though  often  absurd,  were  usually  more 
sensible  than  the  sneering  East  then  realized. 
In  fact,  a  comparison  of  progressive  platforms  of 
to-day  with  Populistic  platforms  of  the  early 
'90s  reveals  some  startling  similarities.  Some 
of  the  policies  of  the  Roosevelt  administration 
were  Populistic  in  their  origin. 

The  populists  distrusted  both  the  old  pnrtv 
organizations,  believing  tTiaf^nBotn  were  "un- 
'scfu^ulous  oligarchies,  controlled  by  the  rich.  A 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  149 

few  astute  and  wealthy  managers  and  magnates, 
called  *  business  men,'  controlling  the  party 
managers  as  their  henchmen,  set  things  up  in 
private  conferences,  while  the  masses  were  being 
fooled  and  manipulated  like  voting  herds.  Then 
the  hiisinpgg  mf>CTftt^8«  who  dictated  the  nomi 
nation  of  the  candidates  and  furnished  the  sinews 
of  war  for  the  campaign^  were,  of  course,  to  con 
duct  the  government;  and,  equallyrT5f  course, 
the" laws  were  to  be  made  and  administered  in 
such  a  way  as  to  take  good  care  of  the  managers' 
business  interests."  In  case  honest  and  coura 
geous  public  officers  attempted  the  enforcement 
of  just  and  equal  laws  against  the  moneyed  forces 
that  controlled,  then  some  silent  but  powerful 
influence  would  retire  such  persons  to  private 
life. 

The  part  that  the  new  party  was  able  to  play 
was  rendered  more  important  by  the  recent  ad 
mission  of  six  new  states  in  which  Populistic 
tenets  found  a  foothold.  The  extension  of  rail 
roads  westward  had  made  possible  the  rapid 
settlement  of  vast  stretches  of  the  public  domain, 
and  the  '80s  had  witnessed  a  great  rush  into  the 
rich  wheat  lands  of  the  Northwest.  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washing 
ton  were  admitted  in  1889,  and  were  followed  the 
next  year  by  Idaho  and  Wyoming.  Utah,  with  a 
much  larger  population  than  some  of  those  ad 
mitted,  was  kept  out  until  1895  because  of  Mor- 
monism  and  polygamy. 

In  1889  the  foundations  were  laid  of  what  was 
later  to  be  another  great  state.  For  years  white 
men  had  coveted  the  fertile  land  lying  within 


150    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

the  limits  of  the  Indian  Territory,  and  lawless 
"boomers"  had  even  sought  to  settle  it,  only  to 
be  driven  out  by  Federal  troops.  Finally  the 
district  called  Oklahoma,  "the  Beautiful  Land," 
was  purchased  by  the  government  from  the 
Indians,  and  preparations  were  made  to  throw  it 
open  to  settlement.  On  the  22nd  of  April,  1889, 
at  the  signal  of  a  bugle,  fifty  thousand  people, 
on  foot,  on  horseback,  and  in  every  conceivable 
vehicle  rushed  madly  over  the  boundary  in 
search  of  "claims."  Many  failed  to  satisfy 
their  hunger  for  land,  but  others  secured  by  a 
small  expenditure  of  time  and  energy  free  farms 
of  unexcelled  fertility.  By  nightfall  the  town  of 
Guthrie,  which  in  the  morning  was  without  a 
single  inhabitant,  contained  several  thousand 
people,  who  had  taken  steps  toward  forming  a 
municipal  government.  Within  a  year  Okla 
homa  had  a  population  of  sixty  thousand. 

In  the  new  congress  any  party  program  was 
naturally  impossible,  and  the  administration 
dragged  listlessly  along.  As  the  time  for  the 
presidential  election  drew  near,  it  became  ap 
parent  that  Harrison  would  probably  be  renomi- 
nated  by  the  Republicans.  It  is  true  that  he  had 
roused  no  great  enthusiasm  and  that  some  of 
the  leaders  of  his  party,  notably  Senator  Platt 
of  New  York  and  Senator  Quay  of  Pennsylvania, 
disliked  him,  but  there  was  seemingly  no  man  to 
oppose  him.  Blaine,  being  a  member  of  Harri 
son's  cabinet,  was  estopped  by  political  eti 
quette  from  seeking  the  nomination,  though 
there  were  many  of  his  old  supporters  who  were 
anxious  for  him  to  do  so.  There  had  never  been 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  151 

much  cordiality  between  the  two  men,  and  on  the 
4th  of  June,  only  three  days  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Republican  convention  at  Minneapolis, 
Elaine  petulantly  resigned  and  permitted  his 
name  to  go  before  the  convention.  But  it  was  too 
late.  Harrison  was  renominated,  with  Whitelaw 
Reid,  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  as  the 
vice-presidential  candidate. 

Among  the  candidates  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  were  Senator  David  B.  Hill  of  New 
York,  Governor  Boies  of  Iowa,  Senator  Gorman 
of  Maryland,  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  of  Illinois,  and 
Grover  Cleveland.  When  Cleveland  retired  from 
the  White  House  three  years  before,  he  settled 
down  in  New  York  to  the  practice  of  law  and 
spent  his  summers  at  "Grey  Gables"  on  the 
Massachusetts  coast,  where  he  entertained  his 
friends  and  indulged  his  well-known  fondness  for 
angling.  Personally  he  seems  to  have  cared 
little  to  return  to  public  life.  In  February,  1892, 
in  the  estimation  of  many,  he  ruined  his  chances 
for  a  renomination  by  writing  an  open^  letter 
denouncing  _the  free  coinage~bi  silver— a  moWS^ 
ment  in  favor  of  which  was  sweeping  over  the 
West  like  a  prairie  fire.  But  the  memory  of  the 
victory  of  1884  was  still  vivid  to  Democrats, 
and  there  were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Ameri 
cans  who  admired  a  man  who  was  not  afraid  to 
speak  his  mind,  Ajnovement  in  his  favor  began 
tCLjtake  shape,  In  the  hope  of  defeating  it  his 
enemies  in  New  York,  led  again  by  David  B.  Hill, 
held  a  "snap  convention,"  which  instructed  the 
New  York  delegates  to  support  Hill.  The  act 
proved  a  political  boomerang.  Democrats  else- 


152    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

where  had  not  forgotten  Hill's  treachery  four  years 
before,  and  again  they  loved  Cleveland  for  the 
enemies  he  had  made.  When  the  Democratic 
convention  met  in  Chicago  (June  21,  1892), 
Cleveland's  manager  reported:  "I  can't  keep  the 
votes  back.  They  tumble  in  at  the  windows  as 
well  as  at  the  doors."  Cleveland  was  renominated 
on  the  first  ballot,  with  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  as  his 
running  mate. 

The  chief^  plank  in  the  Democratic  platform 
was  a  declaration  in  favor  of  a  tariff  for  revenue 
qnTy7~Republican  protection  was  declared  to  be 
a~7raud,  a  robbery  of  the  many  for  the  benefit  of 
the  few.  In  his  letter  of  acceptance,  however, 
Cleveland  promised  that  no  exterminating  war 
would  be  waged  against  any  industry  and  denied 
any  intention  of  precipitating  free  trade. 

The  Populist  or  People's  Party,  which  by  this 
timeTiaoT  been  more  definitely  organized,  held  a 
convention  at  Omaha  in  July  and  nominated 
James  B.  Weaver  of  Iowa,  a  former  Greenback 
Iea3er7  and  James  G.  Field  of  Virginia.  The 
platform  declared.  Jor_  the  free  and-  unlimited 
coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen 
to  one,  postal  savings  banks,  a  graduated  income 
tax,  and  public  ownership  of  railways,  telegraphs, 
and  telephones.  Jt  denounced  both  the  old  par 
ties  as  subservient  to  the  capitalists,  asserting  that 
"from  the  same  prolific  womb  of  governmental 
injustice  we  breed  the  two  great  classes  of  tramps 
and  millionaires."  The  movement  was  decidedly 
to,  .the  advantage  of  the  Democrat&p  for  in  certain 
western  states  that  would  have  been  almost 
certainly  Republican,  the_J)empCTats  supported 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  153 

the^Populist  electoral  tickets  and  thereby  de- 
privecT  IHe  RepiiBlicans  oF  electoral  votes  Tfifey 
would  have  obtained  had  there  beeir"Tro  such 
fusion.  In  Oregon  the  Democrats  placed  a  Popu- 
fisTTelector  upon  their  ticket,  and  in  Minnesota 
the  two  parties  agreed  upon  a  mixed  ticket  of 
four  Democrats  and  four  Populists. 

The  progress  of  events  worked  in  favor  of  the 
Democrats.  Employers  were  decreasing  wages, 
and  outbreaks  of  labor  against  capital  occurred 
in  several  states.  In  June,  1892,  the  Carnegie 
Steel  Company  at  Homestead,  Pennsylvania, 
cut  the  wages  of  some  of  its  employes  and  refused 
to  recognize  the  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Steel  and  Iron  Workers,  thereby  precipitating  a 
strike  that  resulted  in  a  shutdown  which  threw 
thousands  out  of  employment.  A  pitched  battle 
took  place  between  the  strikers  and  a  force  of 
Pinkerton  detectives  acting  as  guards,  and  much 
blood  was  spilled  on  both  sides.  Such  even  Is 
militated  against  the  party  in  power  and  dis 
credited'  the  Mclvinley  Act,  for  it  was  difficult 
for  HepubTican  orators  to  explain  why  a  highly 
protected  industry  should  be  lowering  the  wages 
of  its  employes., 

"The  election  resulted  in  an  even  greater  yictojy 
for  the  Dem.ocrais  than  the  most  sanguine  had 
aiiticipateoT    Cleveland    received    277    electoral^ 
votes,    Harrison    145s and    Weaver  "22^      Even" 
Indiana,  Harrison's  own  home,  repudiated  him, 
while  rock-ribbed  Republican  Ohio,  McKinley's 
native  state,  gave  Cleveland  one  electoral  vote. 
Illinois,  California,  and  Wisconsin  also  joined  the 
Democratic  column.    For  the  first  time  since  1855 


154    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

the  JDeniacrats  -were  to.  control  the  presidency, 
the  senate,  and  the  house  of  representatives. 

But  it  proved  a^Pyrrhic  victory.  The  edifice 
of  business,  raised  upon  stilts  by  the  McKinley 
Act,  was  tottering  to  its  fall.  A^great  financial^ 
pajiic  was  already  on  the  way.  The  IJemocrats 
returned  to  power  in  time  to  reap  the  whirlwind 
which  their  enemies  had  sown. 

A  majority  of  the  members  of  Cleveland's 
second  cabinet  were  appointed  for  purely  personal 
reasons.  The  fact  that  it  was  so  brings  into  relief 
his  one  great  fault  as  an  executive — he  lacked 
tact  in  dealing  with  the  party  leaders.  He  was 
intelligent,  he  was  conscientious,  he  was  coura 
geous,  but  he  did  not  know  how  to  lead.  As  the 
country  is  governed  by  party,  unity  of  party 
action  is  essential  to  successful  administration, 
and  this  Cleveland  was  unable  to  secure.  Having 
decided  that  a  certain  course  was  the  proper  one, 
he  was  inclined  to  be  intolerant  of  those  who 
differed  with  him;  coercion  came  to  him  more 
naturally  than  conciliation. 

The  captain  and  crew  needed  to  understand 
each  other,  for  breakers  were  ahead.  For  a  time 
the  spirits  of  the  nation  were  kept  up  by  the 
gorgeous  celebration  at  Chicago  of  the  four 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  but  even  as  myriads  of 
people  were  visiting  the  magic  "White  City" 
beside  Lake  Michigan  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
country  were  falling  into  a  state  of  chaos  that  was 
to  bring  ruin  and  misery  to  millions. 

When  Cleveland  retired  from  office  four  years 
before,  he  had  turned  over  to  his  successor  a  net 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  155 

surplus  nf  almost,  a  Jnmdred  .nullipiis.  But  the 
McKinley  Tariff  Act  was  so  prohibitive  in  char 
acter  that  customs  receipts  had  fallen  off  nearly 
sixty  millions  annually, ,  jwiiile__th^  IM?pgn^pni' 

Ppn«inn~Ar»t   anH  nthpr  K-gpyfrlfcfrfi  meaSUTCS  had 

greatly  increased  expenditures.  The  resulting 
stringency  was  the  more  serious  because  of  an 
immense  quantity  of  outstanding  notes  that  the 
treasury  might  be  called  upon  to  redeem  in  gold. 
When  specie  payments  had  been  resumed,  the 
treasury  had  set  aside  a  gold  reserve  for  the  re 
demption  of  greenbacks,  and  later  usage  had 
decreed  that  this  reserve  must  not  fall  below 
$100,000,000.  In  1892  there  were  $346,000,000 
of  greenbacks  outstanding.  In  addition,  there 
were  outstanding  $147,000,000  of  "coin  certifi 
cates"  issued  under  the  Sherman  Silver  Purchase 
Act  of  1890.  Harrison's  secretary  of  the  treasury 
had  ruled  that  the  holders  of  these  notes  might 
at  their  option  call  for  gold,  and  this  precedent 
the  Cleveland  administration  stubbornly  followed. 
Even  when  redeemed,  the  notes  must  be  reissued. 
Furthermore,  the  government  must  each  month 
purchase  four  and  a  half  million  more  ounces  of 
silver  and  against  this  issue  new  certificates.  The 
coin  certificates,  therefore,  constituted  a  sort  of 
growing  endless  chain  for  the  depletion  of  the 
gold  reserve. 

In  flush  times  the  monetary  system  might  not 
have  given  serious  trouble,  but  a  world-wide 
bii^n£s^_depressioii_was__at  Jband.  The  great 
money  centers  of  Europe  were  clamoring  for  the 
yellow  metal,  and  American  gold  was  drained  from 
the  country  to  meet  the  demand.  Whereas  be- 


156    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

fore  the  Silver  Purchase  Act  of  1890  at  least  85 
per  cent  of  the  customs  receipts  had  been  paid 
in  gold,  after  February,  1892,  the  payment  in 
gold  in  no  month  of  that  year  exceeded  19  per 
cent.  Rates  of  exchange  were  against  the  United 
States,  and  in  1892  the  net  loss  of  gold  was 
$59,000,000,  as  against  $34,000,000  in  1891. 
Stocks  fluctuated  violently,  bankers  were  conser 
vative  in  making  loans;  before  Harrison  quitted 
office  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  was 
declared  bankrupt,  and  a  stock  panic  ensued 
(February  20,  1893).  The  gold  reserve  fell  so 
low  that  it  was  only  by  such  temporary  expedi 
ents  as  delaying  to  meet  requisitions  and  borrow 
ing  eight  millions  of  gold  that  the  Harrison  admin 
istration  avoided  the  issue  of  bonds.  Preparations 
for  such  an  issue  were  actually  made. 

To_meet  the  situation  President-  Cleveland 
(June  30,  1893)  summoned  congress  to  meet 
in  special  session  on  the  7th  of  August.  By 
use  of  the  patronage  and  thanks  to  assistance 
from  a  majority  of  the  Republicans,  he  managed 
after  a  desperate  struggle  to_secure  the  repeal 
of  the^Sil^erJPiirchaseJict.  ButtHsbyno  means 
solved  the  problem.  Congress  failed  to  enact 
legislation  to  protect  the  gold  reserve,  which  had 
meanwhile  fallen  to  $80,000,000.  The  step  also 
alienated  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Western  Dem 
ocrats,  who  saw  in  the  still  freer  use  of  silver  the 
panacea  for  all  the  nation's  ills,  and  it  came  too 
late  to  avert  a  panic. 

The  panic  was  already  come.  It  is  a  fact  well 
known  to  physicists  that  perfectly  still  water 
will  sometimes  reach  a  temperature  below  the 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  157 

freezing  point  without  congealing,  but  let  a 
shock  be  given,  and,  presto,  the  liquid  has  changed 
to  ice.  The  financial  situation  in  the  early  summer 
of  1893  was  such  that  only  a  shock  was  needed. 
The_sho.ck  came  in  the  shape  of  the  suspension 
by  the  Indian  government  (June  26)  of  the  free 
coinage  oL  silver  at  its  mints.  In  the  United 
States  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  silver  dollar 
quickly  dropped  from  67  to  60  cents,  people  began 
hoarding  gold,  banks  contracted  their  loans  ancj 
refused  new"  ones.  Failures  and  suspensions 
followed,  and  a  whole  chain  of  shaky  banks 
founded  by  a  certain  Zimri  Dwiggins  in  the  West 
came  down  in  one  grand  crash.  Currency  was 
quickly  at  a  premium;  clearing  house  certificates 
were  resorted  to.  The  silver  mines  of  the  West 
shut  down,  securities  fell,  and  in  four  months  de 
posits  in  national  banks  diminished  $378,000,000. 
During  the  year  some  twenty- two  thousand 
miles  of  railroad  went  into  the  hands  of  receivers; 
642  banks  closed  their  doors;  the  liabilities  of 
mercantile  failures  amounted  to  $347,000,000; 
the  production  of  iron  fell  off  almost  a 
fourth. 

The  moment  was  not  particularly  propitious 
for  tariff  tinkering,  but  the  Democratic  platform 
had  promised  the  repeal  of  the  McKinley  Act, 
and,  besides,  some^  new  tariff  measujajgaS-jieeded.  j/ 
to_jirovi<te  ^d^rHo^^e^nuelllQclihe  depleted 
treasury.  After  a  struggle  a  bill  that  had  been 
"reported  from  the  committee  of  ways  and  means 
by  William  L.  Wilson  of  West  Virginia  passed 
the  house  in  February,  1894.  It  was  not  a 
radical  measure,  but  it  placed  many  kinds  of 


158    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

raw  materials,  such  as  wool,  coal,  iron  ore,  and 
lumber  on  the  free  list,  and  made  moderate  re 
ductions  on  many  manufactured  goods.  Into  the 
original  bill  was  also  inserted  a  provision  for  a 
tax  of  two  per  cent  on  all  incomes  of  more  than 
$4,000  a  year.  This  clause  was  adopted  partly 
as  a  revenue  measure,  partly  as  a  means  of  reach 
ing  the  rich,  many  of  whom  were  thought  to  be 
evading  their  share  of  the  financial  burden. 

The  bill  fared  badly  in  the  senate.  Many 
Democratic  senators  desired  tariff  reductions 
except  upon  goods  produced  in  their  own  states. 
The  senators  from  Louisiana  bitterly  opposed 
free  sugar.  Those  from  Maryland,  Alabama,  and 
West  Virginia  could  see  no  good  in  free  coal  and 
iron  ore.  Senator  Murphy  of  New  York,  being  a 
resident  of  Troy,  insisted  upon  high  duties  on 
linen  collars  and  cuffs.  It  was  the  old  story  of  the 
tariff's  being  a  local  issue;  of  the  London  fish 
monger  who  said:  "I  am  in  favor  of  free  trade  in 
everything  but  herring."  A  great  lobby  repre 
senting  the  manufacturers  appeared  in  Washing 
ton,  and  the  Sugar  Trust  at  least  secured  favorable 
changes  by  bribery  and  corruption.  Senators 
Gorman  of  Maryland  and  Brice  of  Ohio  played 
the  part  of  the  protected  interests  with  such 
astuteness  that  upwards  of  six  hundred  changes 
were  made  in  the  house  bill  and  its  original  purport 
was  utterly  destroyed. 

President  Cleveland  denounced  the  senate 
measure  as  involving  "party  perfidy  and  party 
dishonor.'*  But  the  senate,__.jindeE_J Gorman's 
leadership,  insisted  trporf  all  the r  changes,  and  the 
house  could  force  no  concessions.  Ultimately 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  159 

the  president  permitted  the  abortion  to  become  a 
law  without  his  signature. 

Even  the  jncome  tax,  which  was  regarded  as 
the  one  redeeming  feature  of  the  act,  was  the 
next  year  held  unconstitutional  by  the  supreme 
courtby  a  vote  of  five  to  four.  The  ground  for 
the  decision  was  that  the  income  tax  was  a  direct 
tax  and  that  the  law  had  not  apportioned  it 
according  to  population.  As  the  same  court  only 
fifteen  years  before  had  unanimously  held  an 
opposing  opinion,  the  decision  was  severely  criti 
cised.  There  were  not  wanting  men  who  attrib 
uted  the  decision  to  the  same  sinister  influences 
that  had  crippled  tariff  reform  in  the  senate. 

While  the  tariff  bill  was  under  consideration 
business  rnnHitinns_4ffgwLJgr>rse  instead  of  better — . 
The  winter  of  1893-94  saw  Imndreds  ol.thousands 
of  men_oiit  oi-work,  with  their  families  on  the  verge 
of  starvation.  In  some  way  the  idea  of  marching- 
to  the_capital  and  petitioning , the  government  Jor 
a  re^ejsjoLgrifi^auices-spread-through  the  country-r 
Presently  crowds  of  unemployed,  swelled  by  tramps 
and  other  vagabonds,  were  making  their  way, 
sometimes  on  foot,  sometimes  on  captured  trains, 
toward  Washington.  The  chief  points  of  depart 
ure  were  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco,  and  Mas- 
sillon,  Ohio.  The  course  of  these  bands  was 
marked  with  lawlessness,  petty  thievery,  and 
some  bloodshed.  The  movement  quickly  col 
lapsed,  and  only  about  300  of  Cojce^s_picJLiiresque 
"Arjny-^  reached  the  Capitol^  where  some  of 
them  were  arrested  (May  1,  1894)  for  walking  on 
the  grass  and  displaying  banners  without  a  permit. 

More  serious  was  a  widespread  conflict  between 


160    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

capital  and  labor  which  began  soon  after  Coxey's 
disillusioned  "  Commonwealers  "  turned  their 
backs  on  Washington.  The__great  ___  jPullman 
Palace  Car_Cpji]^aji£^^ 

dismissed  many  of  its  emj^oyeSj  cut  the  wages  of 
others,  and  steadfastly  refused  arbitration.  The 


result  was  a  strike,  whicTTlpreaH  TapiHly^^ecause 
the  American^Kailway  Union,  to  which  some  of 
the  Pullman  employes  belonged,  refused  to  allow 
its  members  to  handle  Pullman  cars.  The  Railway 
Managers'  Union  stood  by  the  Pullman  Company. 
The  railways  running  out  of  Chicago  were  para 
lyzed,  and  the  strike  spread  rapidly  to  27  states 
and  territories.  In  Chicago  mobs  of  j  strikers, 
hoodlums,  and  professional  criminals  looted  and 
burned  hundreds  of  cars  and  defied  all  the  efforts 
of  the  police  to  restore  order.  The  Populist- 
Democrat  governor  of  Illinois,  Altgeld,  sympa 
thized  with  the  strikers  and  w^ould  render  no  effec 
tive  aid.  The  strike  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to 
succeed,  but  the  strikers  made  the  mistake  of 
stopping  trains  carrying  the  mails,  and  this 
brought  about  the  interference  of  the  Federal 
government.  A  Federal  judge  issued  a  "blanket 
injunction"  forbidding  Eugene  V.  Debs,  President 
of  the  Railway  Union,  all  of  its  members,  and 
"all  other  persons  whomsoever"  from  interfering 
with  the  business  of  23  specified  railroads.  Debs 
and  three  of  his  associates  were  also  indicted  for 
a  conspiracy  in  violation  of  the  Sherman  anti 
trust  act.  To  prevent  further  obstruction  of  the 
mails  and  to  enforce  the  processes  of  the  courts, 
President  Cleveland  ordered  Federal  troops  to 
the  scenes  of  disturbance.  Governor  Altgeld 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  161 

protested  vigorously  against  the  presence  of  the 
troops  in  Illinois  and  declared  that  the  railroads 
were  paralyzed,  "not  because  of  the  obstruction 
of  strikers,  but  because  the  companies  could  not 
get  men  to  operate  the  trains." 

The  energetic  interference  of  the  Federal  govern 
ment  broke  the  backbone  of  the  movement.  A 
bloody  conflict  between  troops  and  strikers 
occurred  at  Hammond,  Indiana,  but  before  the 
end  of  July  the  presence  of  the  troops  was  no 
longer  needed  in  Chicago.  Debs  was  found 
guilty  of  contempt  of  court  in  failing  to  obey  the 
injunction  and  also  of  conspiracy  in  violation  of 
the  Anti-Trust  Act  and  was  sentenced  to  six 
month's  imprisonment.  Some  of  his  associates 
received  shorter  terms.  The  action  of  the  courts 
in  these  cases  provoked  criticism  not  only  among 
laboring  men  but  among  others  as  being  an 
alarming  stretch  of  judicial  power.  "Govern 
ment  by  injunction"  was  added  to  the  long  list 
of  grievances  of  which  labor  complained. 

Meanwhile  the  government  had  been  put  to 
great  embarrassment  by  the  (Decline  qf^  the  gold 
£eser£eJL_By  January  17,  1894,  the  reserve  bad 
fallen  thirty  millions  below  its  proper  figure. 
The  president,  notwithstanding  bitter  opposition 
from  the  friends  of  silver,  determined  to  issue 
$50,000,000  in  5  per  cent  bonds  in  exchange 
for  gold.  But  the  terms  called  for  a  premium  of 
not  less  than  17  per  cent  and  the  reserve  had 
fallen  yet  lower  before  leading  financiers  on  appeal 
from  the  secretary  consented  to  subscribe  for  the 
loan. 

The  advantages  proved  only  momentary.    Sub- 


162    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

scribers,  by  presenting  notes,  took  out  of  the 
treasury  what  they  put  into  it.  Financiers 
saw  that  they  could  so  deplete  the  treasury  as  to 
compel  new  bond  issues  out  of  which  they  could 
make  large  profits.  By  November  14th  the  reserve 
stood  at  only  $61,000,000,  and  the  administration 
decided  to  float  a  new  issue  of  $50,000,000.  The 
issue  was  taken  up  by  a  syndicate  of  banking 
houses,  which  bid  for  all  or  none.  The  game 
was  so  good  that  early  in  February  the  reserve 

In  this,  .emergency  the 


^  ,  . 

president.  caJled__into  conference  an 
Street  financier,  James  Pierpont  Morgan,  and  an 
agreement  was  reached  whereby  Morgan  and 
associates  agreed  to  take  uj^  a_  new  issue  of^ 
$62,315,400  in  4  per  centTxmds,  paying  gold  in" 
exchange.  They  promised  to  use^lnfluence  to 
prevent  the  further  withdrawal  of  gold,  pending 
the  performance  of  the  contract,  and  to  import  at 
least  half  the  amount  needed  from  abroad.  The 
syndicate  paid  104^,  and  the  price  quickly 
jumped  to  118,  thereby  assuring  Morgan  and 
associates  millions  in  profits.  The  deal  disgusted 
well-nigh  the  whole  country,  and  yet  it  has 
found  earnest  defenders.  Westerners  turned  their 
backs  on  Cleveland  almost  en  masse.  Henceforth 
he  was  practically  a  president  without  a  party. 

That  the  government  made  a  mistake  in  award 
ing  this  issue  is  seemingly  proved  by  subsequent 
events.  By  January,  1896,  the  reserve  had 
again  fallen  so  low  that  it  was  decided  to  issue 
a  new  4  per  cent  loan  of  $100,000,000.  This  time, 
in  deference  to  public  opinion  and  the  attitude  of 
congress,  the  bonds  were  opened  to  public  sub- 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  163 

scription,  and  were  several  times  oversubscribed. 
The  lowest  bid  which  the  treasury  found  it  neces 
sary  to  consider  was  110.6877,  or  over  6  per  cent 
more  than  the  Morgan  syndicate  had  paid  for 
the  previous  issue. 

At  the  time  the  last  bond  issue  was  made  the 
United  States  was  seemingly  on  the  verge  of  war 
with  England  over  a  disputed  boundary  between 
^Venezuela  and  British  Guiana.  The  dispute  had 
existed  ToF  more  than  half  a  century.  In  1880 
and  later  Venezuela  offered  to  submit  the  question 
to  arbitration,  but  England  refused,  and  diplo 
matic  negotiations  were  broken  off  in  1887.  The 
United  States  repeatedly  tendered  its  good  offices, 
but  each  time  the  British  ministry  declined  them. 
The  discovery  of  gold  within  the  disputed  region 
increased  the  unwillingness  of  Great  Britain  to 
relinquish  control;  she  even  enlarged  her  claims. 
President  Cleveland  believed  that  England  was 
encroaching  upon  the  territory  of  Venezuela'_and 
thereby  traversing  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  In 
July,  1895,  his  new  secretary  of  state,  Richard 
Olney,  informed  Lord  Salisbury,  the  British 
premier,  that  under  that  doctrine  the  United 
States  was  "entitled  to  resent  and  resist  any 
sequestration  of  Venezuelan  soil,"  and  strongly 
requested  the  submission  of  the  whole  case  to 
arbitration.  Lord  Salisbury  replied  cavalierly 
that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  a  part  of  the 
law  of  nations  and  declined  to  arbitrate  the  ques 
tion  as  a  whole.  Great  Britain  would  arbitrate 
concerning  her  right  to  some  of  the  territory  in 
dispute  but  not  concerning  any  territory  east  of 
what  was  known  as  the  Schomburgk  Line.  This 


164    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

line,  which  was  now  put  forward  with  so  much 
assurance,  had  years  before  been  characterized 
by  the  British  government  itself  as  "merely  a 
preliminary  measure  open  to  further  discussion." 

President  Cleveland  thereupon  did  a  character 
istically  daring  thing.  He  sent  a  special  message 
to  congress  (December  17,  1895)  recapitulating 
the  points  in  the  controversy  and  declaring  that 
since  Great  Britain  refused  to  arbitrate,  the  United 
States  must  itself  ascertain  the  true  boundary. 
He  asked  congress  to  appropriate  money  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  a  special  commission  to  make  the 
necessary  investigation.  He  declared  that  in 
case  the  disputed  territory  should  be  found  to 
belong  to  Venezuela,  it  would  be  "the  duty  of 
the  United  States  to  resist  by  every  means  in  its 
power"  any  British  aggressions  upon  it.  He 
added:  "In  making  these  recommendations  I 
am  fully  alive  to  the  responsibility  incurred,  and 
keenly  realize  all  the  consequences  that  may 
follow."  The  message  struck  a  popular  chord. 
The  country  resounded  with  applause.  In  four 
days  congress  voted  $100,000  for  the  commission* 
without  division  or  debate. 

Great  Britain  suddenly  awoke  to  the  serious 
ness  of  the  situation.  For  a  time  there  seemed 
grave  danger  of  war,  but  the  raid  of  Dr.  Jameson's 
freebooters  into  the  Transvaal  and  the  Kaiser's 
congratulatory  dispatch  to  Kruger  turned  British 
attention  from  the  Venezuelan  question.  Peace 
was  preserved  in  the  only  way  possible— Lord 
Salisbury  ^accepted  the_ngw_  Jnterpretation  of 
thlT  MonroeL>pctrine  and  consented  to  arbi 
trate  "the  whole  question.  A  formal  treaty  to 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  165 

that  effect  between  Great  Britain  and  Vene 
zuela  was  signed  (February  2,  1897).  The  decis 
ion  of  the  arbitration  tribunal  proved,  on  the 
whole,  favorable  to  England,  but  the  tribunal 
awarded  to  Venezuela  some  territory  east  of  the 
Schomburgk  Line — territory  which  England  had 
claimed  to  be  so  clearly  hers  that  she  would  not 
allow  her  title  to  it  to  be  called  in  question. 

The  outcome  of  the  dispute  marked  a  signal 
victory  of  American  diplomacy.  In  the  words 
of  the  London  Times,  Great  Britain  admitted 
"that  in  respect  of  South  American  Republics 
the  United  States  may  not  only  intervene  in  dis 
putes,  but  may  entirely  supersede  the  original 
disputant  and  assume  exclusive  control  of  the 
negotiations."  It  was  an  assertion  and  a  conces 
sion  of  American  hegemony  in  the  New  World. 

The  Venezuelan  message  gave  President  Cleve 
land  temporary  popularity,  but  it  did  not  enable 
him  to  recover  control  of  his  party.  In  the  West 
and  South  particularly  that  party  was  thoroughly 
inoculated  with  the  free  silver  virus.  In  those 
sections  most  Democrats  regarded  the  president 
as  a  traitor  who  had  betrayed  party  and  nation 
to  the  "Gold  Bugs"  of  Wall  Street.  The  Repub 
licans  were  themselves  divided  on  the  financial 
issue,  but  they  had  won  an  overwhelming  victory 
in  the  congressional  elections  of  1894  and  were 
extravagantly  confident  as  to  the  future.  It 
was  their  common  boast  that  in  1896  they  could 
nominate  "  a  rag-baby  or  a  yellow  dog  and  elect  it." 

The  chief  candidates  for  the  Republican  nomi 
nation  were  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine  and  Wil 
liam  McKinley  of  Ohio.  Reed  had  made  himself 


166    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

conspicuous  by  his  arbitrary  course  as  "Czar" 
of  the  house,  but  it  was  felt  by  many  politicians 
that  he  was  too  openly  a  friend  of  the  gold  stand 
ard  to  be  acceptable  in  the  West.  McKinley 
was  regarded  by  many  as  a  more  available  can 
didate.  As  a  member  of  the  house  in  1878  he  had 
voted  for  the  Bland-Allison  Bill  on  its  first  pas 
sage  and  subsequently  when  it  was  passed  over 
the  president's  veto,  but  his  exact  position  on 
the  money  question  was  unknown,  and  his  record 
was  more  closely  associated  with  the  tariff.  It 
was  his  bill  of  1890  that  had  brought  defeat  to 
his  party  in  that  year  and  again  in  1892,  but  a 
reaction  had  come,  and  it  was  now  possible  to 
arouse  enthusiasm  among  those  who  attributed 
the  hard  times  to  Democratic  rule  by  shouting 
"Bill  McKinley  and  the  McKinley  Bill."  Fol 
lowing  his  defeat  in  the  congressional  election  of 
1890,  he  had  twice  been  elected  governor  of  Ohio, 
and  his  course  in  that  office  had  been  eminently 
satisfactory  to  the  powerful  financial  interests 
that  were  now  grasping  at  the  government.  Mc 
Kinley  was  a  man  of  moderate  abilities  and  pure 
private  life.  Being  the  son  and  grandson  of  iron 
masters,  he  understood  the  manufacturer's  point 
of  view  and  sympathized  with  it. 

The  decisive  part  in  the  campaign  for  the 
nomination — and  some  assert  in  the  years  that 
followed — was  played  not  by  McKinley  but  by 
his  political  manager,  Marcus  Alonzo  Hanna  of 
Cleveland.  "Mark"  HannaP  as  he_was  usually 
called,  was  an  Ohio  business  man  who  had  ac 
cumulated  a  large  fortune  in  coal,  iron,  and  other 
industries.  He  owned  street  railway  and  other 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  167 

franchises,  and  had  participated  in  local  and 
state  politics  as  an  adjunct  to  his  business.  In 
private  life  he  was  a  blunt,  coarse-fibered  man, 
with  many  likable  human  traits.  As  regards 
his  theoretical  knowledge  of  political  science,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  one  of  his  favorite  expres 
sions  of  denunciation  was:  "He's  a  Socialist 
and  an  Anarchist."  Hanna  was  frankly  cynical 
of  popular  government.  He  was  a  corruptionist 
of  the  most  dangerous  type.  In  the  words  of  one 
who  was  long  associated  with  him  in  politics, 
"Mark  Hanna  never  tried  to  carry  an  election 
merely  by  a  sober  appeal  to  the  sense  and  con 
science  of  the  people.  When  he  wanted  a  thing, 
jt  was  his  idea  to  go  out  and  buy  somebody." 

While  governor,  McKinley  became  involved 
in  financial  obligations  to  the  extent  of  about 
$100,000,  but  Hanna  and  other  wealthy  friends 
gave  him  the  money  that  saved  him  from  bank 
ruptcy.  What  influence  this  transaction  later 
had  upon  McKinley 's  career  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  This  much  is  certain,  that  their  relations 
were  very  close,  and  that  Hanna's  was  the 
stronger  nature.  Men  who  knew  both  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  say  that  "McKinley  was  not,  for 
Hanna  took  him,"  but  this  is  undoubtedly  an 
exaggeration. 

Hanna  was  determined  to  secure  the  nomina 
tion^)?  his  friend  foj^t^pft^Mton^y,  ffpd  ftjTrnn- 
ducted  I3ie ^"campaign  to  that  end  with  consum 
mate  skill.  Through  the  lavish  use  of  money 
secret  influences  were  set  to  work,  particularly 
in  the  South  and  West,  to  fan  into  a  flame  the 
already  latent  friendliness  felt  among  Republi- 


168    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

cans  for  "the  advance  agent  of  prosperity."  It 
is  notorious  that  many  of  the  Southern  delegates 
to  Republican  national  conventions  are  venal, 
and  Hanna  was  especially  successful  in  obtaining 
delegates  from  that  section.  When  the  Republi 
can  convention  met  at  St.  Louis  in  the  middle  of 
June,  McKinley  was  nominated  on  the  first 
ballot,  with  Garret  A.  Hobart,  a  wealthy  lawyer 
and  business  man  of  New  Jersey,  as  the  vice- 
presidential  candidate. 

Up  to  the  meeting  of  the  convention  it  had 
been  uncertain  what  attitude  the  party  would 
take  on  the  coinage  question.  Hanna  had  skill 
fully  kept  his  candidate's  opinions  on  the  subject 
in  the  background  in  order  not  to  alienate  the 
free  silver  West  or  the  gold  East.  But  with  his 
consent,  and  perhaps  through  his  secret  manage 
ment,  a  platform  was  adopted  which  opposed  the 
free  coinage  of  silver,  except  by  international 
agreement.  Senator  Teller  of  Colorado  and 
thirty-three  other  delegates,  including  three  other 
senators  and  two  members  of  the  house,  at  once 
seceded  from  the  convention.  Their  withdrawal 
was  serious,  but  the  convention's  action  had 
secured  the  support  of  the  sound  money  East. 

Meanwhile  it  was  becoming  certain  that  the 
Democrats  would  declare  for  free  silver.  In  the 
West  the  free-coinage  craze  had  become  an  obses 
sion.  "It  was  a  fanaticism  like  the  Crusades.  In 
deed,  the  delusion  that  was  working  on  the  people 
took  the  form  of  religious  frenzy.  Sacred  hymns 
were  torn  from  their  pious  tunes  to  give  place  to 
words  which  deified  the  cause  and  made  gold — 
and  all  its  symbols,  capital,  wealth,  plutocracy — 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  169 

diabolical.  At  night,  from  ten  thousand  little 
white  schoolhouse  windows,  lights  twinkled  back 
vain  hope  to  the  stars.  .  .  .  They  sang  their 
barbaric  songs  in  unrhythmic  jargon,  with  some 
thing  of  the  mad  faith  that  inspired  martyrs 
going  to  the  stake.  Far  into  the  night  the  voices 
rose, — women's  and  children's  voices,  the  voices 
of  old  men,  of  youths  and  of  maidens  rose  on  the 
ebbing  prairie  breezes,  as  the  crusaders  of  the 
revolution  rode  home,  praising  the  people's  will 
as  though  it  were  God's  will  and  cursing  wealth 
for  its  inequity." 

When  the  Democratic  convention  met  at  Chi 
cago  in  July,  the  free-silver  wing  had  full  control. 
The  old  conservative  leaders  were  swept  aside. 
Cleveland's  administration  was  repudiated.  Gold 
monometallism  was  denounced  as  the  mischief 
'*  which  had  locked  fast  the  prosperity  of  an  indus 
trial  people  in  the  paralysis  of  hard  times."  The 
platform  demanded  "the  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  both  silver  and  gold  at  the  present 
legal  ratio  of  16  to  1  without  waiting  for  the  aid 
or  consent  of  any  other  nation." 

Much  uncertainty  existed  as  to  who  would  lead 
the  crusade  in  behalf  of  the  white  metal.  The 
man  most  talked  about  at  first  was  the  "Father 
of  Free  Silver,"  Senator  Richard  P.  Bland  of  Mis 
souri.  But  while  the  platform  was  still  under 
discussion  there  appeared  upon  the  stage  to  plead 
the  cause  of  silver  a  young  man  of  thirty-six  from 
Nebraska.  The  speaker  had  a  magnificent  presence 
and  a  marvelous  mellow  voice  that  penetrated  to 
the  farthest  recesses  of  the  great  convention  hall. 
Practically  unknown  to  the  nation,  utterly  un- 


170    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

known  to  many  of  the  delegates  present,  he  pro 
ceeded  to  deliver  an  oration  the  like  of  which, 
judged  by  its  effectiveness,  had  rarely  been  heard 
since  the  days  of  Clay  and  Webster.  And  when 
he  closed  by  saying:  "You  shall  not  press  down 
upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns — you 
shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold!'* 
he  had  won  in  an  hour  what  other  men  had 
striven  a  lifetime  for  and  had  failed  to  win. 
"Silver  Dick"  Bland  was  forgotten;  the  next 
day  William  Jennings_  Bryan  was  nominated  for 
the  presidency!  /&Uco-x*/o*-K7 

TThe  new  leader  was  a  graduate  of  Illinois 
College,  and  a  lawyer  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  His 
public  experience  was  practically  limited  to  two 
terms  in  the  lower  house  of  congress,  where  he 
had  been  an  active  insurgent  against  Cleveland's 
financial  policy.  He  was  the  youngest  man  who 
had  ever  been  nominated  for  the  presidency. 

The  action  of  the  Chicago  convention  dismayed 
Eastern  Democrats.  Many  prominent  leaders 
and  newspapers  declared  that  they  would  not 
support  the  "Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte."  The 
bolters  organized  a  "Gold  Democrat"  party, 
which  held  a  convention  at  Indianapolis  in 
September  and  nominated  ex-Senator  Palmer  of 
Illinois  and  General  Simon  E.  Buckner  of  Ken 
tucky  for  the  presidency  and  vice-presidency. 
With  this  movement  President  Cleveland  and 
his  friends  were  supposed  to  be  in  sympathy. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Populists  and  Silver  Re 
publicans,  meeting  in  separate  conventions 
at  St.  Louis,  decided  to  support  Bryan,  but 
the  Populists  substituted  Thomas  E.  Watson 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  171 

of  Georgia  for  the  Democratic   vice-presidential 
nominee. 

The  campaign  was  fought  almost  solely  on  the 
financial  issue.  The  Democrats  urged  that  the 
scarcity  of  money  depressed  business  and  worked 
a  great  injustice  upon  the  debtor  class.  Con 
traction,  they  declared,  is  as  dishonorable  as 
inflation,  and  it  has  the  added  disadvantage  of 
falling  most  heavily  upon  those  who  have  borrowed 
money  rather  than  upon  those  who  have  been 
rich  enough  to  lend  it.  They  contended  that  if 
even  one  great  commercial  nation  like  the  United 
States  should  restore  the  historic  value  ratio 
between  the  two  metals,  other  nations  would  be 
compelled  to  co-operate,  the  money  famine  would 
be  ended,  and  business  would  improve.  They 
had  no  fear  of  fiat  value.  One  of  their  campaign 
songs  ran  thus: 

"You  may  say  what  you  will  of  the  fifty  cent  dollar, 
But  I  tell  you  it  beats  none  at  all  all  holler." 

Bryan  made  a  whirlwind  campaign,  traveling 
eighteen  thousand  miles  and  speaking  to  probably 
five  million  hearers.  For_a.  time  it  seemed  that 
he  had  &^hance_of 


_ 
Grejat  numbers  of  people  wrongly  laid  all   the 

blame  for  the  hard  times  upon  Democratic  rule, 
and  the  cry  of  "  McKinley  and  Prosperity  "  won 
labor  votes.  Many  people,  though  agreeing  that 
something  was  wrong  with  the  nation,  could  not 
agree  that  free  silver  was  the  rightful  remedy.* 
They  were  inclined  to  accept  the  Republican 
view  that  to  adopt  it  would  mean  national  ruin 


172    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

and  national  disgrace.  The  financial  interests 
contributed  to  the  Republican  cause  a  greater 
campaign  fund  than  any  that  had  hitherto  been 
gathered.  Laborers  were  told  that  if  the  Demo 
crats  won  they  need  not  return  to  work.  City 
banks  brought  pressure  to  bear  upon  country 
correspondents.  Orders  for  goods  were  made 
contingent  upon  the  choice  of  the  Republican 
candidate.  When  the  votes  were  finally  counted 
in  November,  it  was  found  that  McKinley 
would  be  the  choice  of  271  electors,  Bryan  of 
only  176. 

The  money  question  had  served  to  obscure  the 
real  issue  and  to  postpone  the  solution  of  an  evil 
that  had  resulted  from  a  long  course  of  economic 
evolution.  A  little  more  than  a  century  before 
there  had  begun  in  England  a  new  movement 
in  history  that  in  its  effects  upon  the  daily  lives, 
thoughts,  and  habits  of  men  has  been  vastly  more 
important  than  any  political  revolution  of  which 
there  exists  a  record.  By  the  invention  of  labor- 
saving  machinery  such  as  the  spinning-jenny,  the 
power-loom,  and  the  steam-engine,  man  freed 
himself  from  the  limitations  of  his  own  puny 
strength  and  harnessed  Nature  to  work  for  him. 
Society  passed  from  the  handicraft  into  the  in 
dustrial  stage. 

This  Industrial  Revolution,  of  which  too  little 
is  said  in  our  school  histories,  has  had  both  its 
bright  and  its  dark  sides.  The  amount  of  goods 
that  could  be  created  for  human  enjoyment  was 
vastly  increased,  but  the  new  system  brought 
with  it  the  growth  of  factories,  child  labor,  the 
capitalistic  system,  with  all  the  complicated 


BATTLEDORE  AND  SHUTTLECOCK  173 

problems  that  these  things  entail.  In  the  evo 
lution  of  industrial  society  there  developed  a 
system  of  combinations  having  the  activities  of 
an  individual  and  infinitely  greater  power,  but 
without  an  individual's  responsibility. 

The  control  of  these  giant  combinations  was 
the  real  problem  of  the  day,  but  the  party  of 
reform  unwisely  "sought  a  remedy  through  an 
attempt  to  establish  an  unsound  economic  prin 
ciple.  The  result  was  their  defeat,  and  for  a  time 
the  defeat  of  the  cause  for  which  they  were  con 
tending.  The  way  to  deliverance  was  not  to  be 
opened  to  them  through  the  door  of  the  national 
finances.  Mr.  Bryan  resembled  a  champion  who 
rushes  forth  to  meet  a  powerful  antagonist,  and 
who  has  armed  himself  with  a  sword  of  which  the 
blade  is  flawed.  At  the  very  crisis  of  the  combat, 
his  weapon  was  shattered  in  his  grasp,  and  the 
victory  was  given  to  his  adversary." 

President  Cleveland  retired  from  office  the 
most  unpopular  ex-president  since  Andrew  John 
son.  His  party  had  openly  repudiated  him,  and 
among  Western  Democrats  his  name  was  anath 
ema.  But  as  the  years  passed  more  and  more  men 
paid  tribute  to  his  integrity  and  to  his  stubborn 
stand  for  sound  money.  In  one  respect  his  break 
with  his  party  was  an  unmixed  blessing,  for  it 
left  him  a  freer  hand  to  advance  civil  service 
reform.  He  retained  Theodore  Roosevelt  on  the 
Civil  Service  Commission,  and  worked  in  har 
mony  with  him  until  Roosevelt  resigned  to  be 
come  police  commissioner  of  New  York  City. 
Finding  on  his  second  inauguration  42,928 
places  under  civil  service  rules,  Cleveland  ex- 


174    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

tended  the  classified  list  until  the  positions 
numbered  86,932,  of  which  only  1,513  were  due 
to  growth.  His  successor  deemed  the  extension 
somewhat  too  sweeping  to  suit  his  idea  of  the 
fitness  of  things.  He  withdrew  some  thousands 
from  the  classified  list  and  placed  over  six  thou 
sand  under  a  modified  system  more  flexible  to  the 
desires  of  Republican  spoilsmen. 


CHAPTER  VU 

THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN 

IN  the  year  1868  the  people  of  the  island  of 
*)se  against  their  Spanish  rulers  in  an 
attempt  to  obtain  self-government.  The  proxim 
ity  of  the  island  to  the  United  States  helped  to 
rouse  a  strong  interest  in  the  great  Republic  for 
the  struggling  revolutionists.  In  August,  1869, 
President  Grant  signed  a  proclamation  recog 
nizing  the  belligerency  of  the  insurgents,  but 
owing  to  the  influence  of  Secretary  Fish  it  was 
never  issued.  Four  years  later  a  Spanish  gun 
boat  seized  a  filibustering  steamer,  the  Vir 
ginius,  on  the  high  seas  and  carried  her  into 
the  harbor  of  Santiago,  where  fifty-three  of  the 
passengers  and  crew,  including  eight  American 
citizens,  were  summarily  shot.  The  war  spirit 
flamed  high  in  the  United  States,  for  when  cap 
tured  the  Virginius  was  flying  the  American 
flag.  Hostilities  seemed  likely,  but  after  vex 
atious  delays  reparation  was  made  by  Spain 
for  the  affair.  American  feeling  was  also  soothed 
by  the  discovery  that  the  Virginius  had  ob 
tained  her  registry  by  perjury  and  fraud.  The 
war  languished  for  a  decade,  but  ultimately  peace 
was  restored  in  the  island  upon  promises  being 
175 


176    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

made  of  important  concessions.  Hardly  had  the 
patriots  laid  down  their  arms  when  the  promises 
were  broken,  and  Spain  proceeded  to  govern  as 
tyrannically  as  ever. 

Early  in  1895  another  revolt  broke  out  in  the 
island,  among  those  engaged  in  the  movement 
being  many  who  had  participated  in  the  Ten 
Years'  War.  Unable  to  meet  the  Spanish  regulars 
in  the  field,  the  insurgents  resorted  to  guerrilla 
tactics,  and  by  the  end  of  1896  roamed  at  will  over 
three-fourths  of  the  inland  country.  Plantations 
were  laid  waste  by  both  sides,  villages  and  towns 
were  burned,  and  great  stretches  of  country 
reverted  to  the  wilderness.  Under  the  humane 
leadership  of  Governor-general  Campos,  the  Span 
ish  at  first  waged  warfare  in  accordance  with  civil 
ized  usages;  but  Campos  failed  to  suppress  the 
revolt,  and  in  January,  1896,  was  superseded  by 
General  Weyler,  whose  harsh  policy  gained  for 
him  the  name  of  the  "Butcher."  Weyler  put  into 
effect  a  policy  of  gathering  the  peasants  and  vil 
lagers  into  fortified  towns  in  order  that  they  might 
not  afford  assistance  to  the  insurgents.  Being 
improperly  supplied  with  food  and  shelter,  the 
unhappy  reconcentrados  died  by  tens  of  thousands. 

The  revolt  quickly  won  American  sympathy, 
and  not  a  few  adventurous  spirits  betook  them 
selves  to  Cuba  to  fight  in  the  insurgent  ranks. 
The  American  government  tried  hard  to  enforce 
its  neutrality  laws,  but  numerous  vessels  managed 
to  escape  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities  and  to 
land  volunteers  and  sorely  needed  munitions  of 
war  in  Cuba.  As  the  war  dragged  slowly  along, 
as  newspaper  and  magazine  correspondents  sent 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      177 

out  stories  of  Spanish  cruelty  and  the  awful 
sufferings  of  the  non-combatants  in  the  recon- 
centration  camps,  American  interest  became 
intensified,  and  more  and  more  people  began  to 
feel  that  our  government  ought  to  intervene  to 
put  a  stop  to  such  horrors.  Since  at  least  fifty 
millions  of  American  capital  was  invested  in 
the  island,  Americans  also  had  a  pecuniary  interest 
in  the  return  of  peace  conditions.  In  spite  of 
growing  pressure,  however,  President  Cleveland 
and  President  McKinley  after  him  preserved  a 
perfectly  correct  attitude,  but  plainly  intimated 
that  the  United  States  could  not  be  expected  to 
display  forbearance  forever. 

In  September,  1897,  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  the 
American  minister  to  Spain,  renewed  to  the  Span 
ish  government  previous  tenders  of  our  friendly 
offices  in  settling  the  contest,  at  the  same  time 
giving  warning  that  American  patience  was  about 
at  an  end.  Seftor  Sagasta,  the  head  of  a  new 
Liberal  ministry,  replied  that  Spain  was  about 
to  grant  the  Cubans  the  right  of  self-government 
under  Spanish  sovereignty.  The  brutal  Weyler 
was  superseded  by  General  Blanco,  the  con 
centration  order  was  somewhat  modified,  and 
all  American  prisoners  were  released.  But  the 
revolutionists  refused  to  trust  Spanish  promises, 
while  the  loyalists  in  the  island,  in  riotous  out 
breaks,  denounced  autonomy  and  the  United 
States.  Fearing  for  the  safety  of  Americans  in 
Havana,  Consul-general  Fitzhugh  Lee  asked 
for  naval  protection.  Orders  were  issued  for  the 
North  Atlantic  squadron  to  rendezvous  at  the 
Dry  Tortugas,  only  a  few  hours*  sailing  from  Cuba, 


178    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

and  the  second-class  battleship  Maine  was  sent 
to  Havana.  To  preserve  appearances,  the  Spanish 
armored  cruiser  Vizcaya  visited  New  York.  About 
this  time  a  letter  from  the  Spanish  minister  at 
Washington,  Senor  Dupuy  de  Lome,  in  which 
he  spoke  cynically  of  Spain's  grant  of  self-govern 
ment  to  Cuba  and  disrespectfully  of  McKinley, 
was  published  in  the  American  press  and  re 
sulted  in  his  resignation. 

The  tension  between  the  two  countries,  already 
high,  was  soon  increased  well-nigh  to  the  break 
ing  point  by  a  tragic  incident.  On  the  night  of 
February  15th,  the  Maine,  at  anchor  in  Havana 
harbor,  was  blown  up  by  an  explosion,  resulting 
in  the  death  of  266  American  seamen.  Public 
indignation  in  the  United  States  was  intense, 
for  it  was  generally  believed  that  the  tragedy  was 
due  to  dastardly  treachery,  and  there  was  a  deep 
desire  for  vengeance.  An  American  court  of  in 
quiry  reported  that  the  disaster  had  been  caused 
by  an  external  explosion;  a  Spanish  court  that 
the  explosion  was  an  internal  one. 

The  pressure  of  the  war  party  upon  congress 
and  the  president  now  became  irresistible.  Con 
gress  appropriated  $50,000,000  "as  an  emergency 
fund  for  the  national  defence."  War  vessels, 
guns,  and  other  munitions  were  purchased  abroad. 
Certain  European  states  endeavored  to  intervene 
in  behalf  of  Spain,  but  the  attempt  was  frustrated 
by  the  attitude  of  Great  Britain;  it  ended  in  a 
mere  tender  of  friendly  offices.  On  the  19th  of 
April,  the  anniversary  of  Lexington  and  Concord, 
congress  adopted  a  joint  resolution  declaring 
Cuba  free  and  independent  and  authorizing  the 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      179 

president  to  force  Spain  to  relinquish  her  sover 
eignty.  A  formal  declaration  of  war  followed 
six  days  later. 

Volunteers  were  called  for,  but  it  was  evident 
that  in  the  coming  conflict  sea-power  would  play 
the  decisive  part.  On  paper  the  two  navies  were 
apparently  about  equal  in  strength.  Continental 
sympathizers  with  Spain  affected  to  believe  that 
the  Spanish  fleets  would  sweep  the  seas.  But  the 
new  American  navy,  begun  in  the  administration 
of  Arthur,  contained  some  splendid  vessels, 
manned  by  officers  and  men  filled  with  the  tra 
ditions  of  a  service  that  had  produced  a  Paul 
Jones,  a  Decatur,  a  Macdonough,  a  Perry,  two 
Porters,  and  a  Farragut.  Partly  through  the 
energetic  preparations  of  a  strenuous  assistant- 
secretary,  who  had  foreseen  the  war  and  under 
stood  what  was  needed,  the  vessels  had  been 
kept  in  fighting  trim,  and  the  crews  had  been 
trained  to  use  the  guns.  As  a  result,  the  navy 
displayed  an  efficiency  that  astonished  even  its 
creators  and  admirers. 

The  first  blow  was  not  long  delayed.  Commo 
dore  George  Dewey  had  for  some  time  been  sta 
tioned  with  a  small  but  highly  efficient  squadron 
at  Hong  Kong  within  striking  distance  of  the 
Philippine  Islands.  In  obedience  to  a  cablegram 
from  Washington,  he  sailed  into  the  harbor  of 
Manila  on  the  early  morning  of  May  Day,  and 
in  a  few  hours  utterly  destroyed  a  much  inferior 
Spanish  fleet  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  The 
victory  put  the  city  of  Manila  at  his  mercy,  but 
he  forbore  taking  it  until  land  forces  could 
arrive  from  the  United  States.  While  waiting, 


180    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

he  blockaded  the  city,  suffering  meantime  some 
vexatious  annoyances  from  the  too  officious 
behavior  of  a  German  fleet.  Sufficient  troops  were 
hastily  sent  from  the  United  States,  and  on  the 
13th  of  August,  with  some  assistance  from  the 
natives,  who  had  risen  in  revolt  against  the 
Spaniards,  the  Americans  took  the  city.  Spanish 
rule  in  the  Orient  was  at  an  end. 

Meanwhile  even  more  decisive  events  had  been 
taking  place  in  and  around  Cuba.  With  the 
first  outbreak  of  war,  a  powerful  squadron  under 
Acting-admiral  Sampson  had  blockaded  Havana 
and  other  ports  of  the  island,  while  a  "Flying 
Squadron"  under  Commodore  Schley  was  as 
sembled  at  Hampton  Roads  in  readiness  to  meet 
the  movements  of  a  Spanish  squadron  of  four 
armored  cruisers  and  three  destroyers  that  had 
been  sent  from  Spain  under  Admiral  Cervera. 
The  battleship  Oregon,  stationed  at  San  Francisco, 
set  out  on  a  long  and  spectacular  voyage  of  14,000 
miles  round  South  America,  arriving  in  West 
Indian  waters  in  time  to  do  splendid  service.  As 
the  destination  of  Cervera's  fleet  was  unknown, 
much  uneasiness  was  manifested  in  coast  towns  and 
summer  resorts.  But  it  presently  developed  that 
Cervera  had  no  intention  of  attempting  anything 
so  bold.  After  touching  at  various  West  Indian 
ports  he  finally,  with  all  his  vessels  except  one 
destroyer,  put  into  the  harbor  of  Santiago.  Here 
he  was  soon  blockaded  by  the  Flying  Squadron, 
and  presently  by  both  American  fleets. 

As  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  was  long  and 
narrow  and  commanded  by  fortifications,  it  was 
deemed  inexpedient  for  the  American  vessels  to 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      181 

attempt  to  enter,  and  it  was  also  thought  that 
it  would  be  well  if  the  egress  of  the  Spanish  fleet 
could  be  rendered  impossible.  On  the  night  of 
June  2d  Lieutenant  Richmond  Pearson  Hobson, 
with  seven  volunteers,  sailed  with  the  steam 
collier  Merrimac  into  the  channel  under  a  terrific 
fire  and  endeavored  to  sink  her  at  a  spot  that 
would  block  the  exit  of  the  Spanish  ships.  The 
Merrimac  did  not  sink  quickly  enough,  and  the 
attempt  failed — fortunately,  as  the  event  proved. 
Hobson  and  his  men  were  captured,  but  were 
presently  exchanged.  The  gallantry  of  the  exploit 
won  high  praise  from  a  world-wide  audience. 

In  order  to  insure  the  capture  of  the  blockaded 
fleet,  a  land  attack  was  now  planned  against 
Santiago.  In  the  middle  of  June  some  thirty 
transports,  convoyed  by  men  of  war,  sailed  from 
Port  Tampa,  Florida,  bearing  about  sixteen 
thousand  troops.  The  embarkation  was  attended 
with  great  disorder,  for  the  war  department 
had  broken  down  under  the  strain  of  actual 
warfare.  The  army  was  commanded  by  Major- 
general  Shafter,  an  officer  from  Michigan.  It 
consisted  chiefly  of  regular  troops,  but  included 
in  it  were  three  volunteer  regiments. 

Not  so  much  because  of  its  services  in  this 
campaign  but  rather  because  of  its  indirect  in 
fluence  upon  political  history,  one  of  these  volun 
teer  regiments  demands  more  than  passing  notice. 
Officially  it  was  called  the  First  Volunteer  Cayalryj, 
popularly  it  went  by  the  name~  of  the  fiough 
Biders,J)ecause  it  was  composed  in  large  measure 
of  western  cowboys,  prospectors,  and  Indians, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  eastern  football  players. 


182    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

It  was  commanded^  by  Colonel__I«^gjd_WoQd, 
an  ex-army  surgeon  who  haoT^vxm  the  coveted 
Medal  of  Honor  by  heroism  in  campaigns  against 
the  Apaches.  Its  second  in  commjjjidjwas  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt.  At  this  time  Roosevelt  wasfhbt 
quite  "Forty  years  of  age,  and  came  of  a  long  line 
of  Knickerbocker  ancestors.  After  graduating 
from  Harvard  he  had  entered  the  New  York 
legislature,  where  he  quickly  won  an  enviable 
record  as  a  reformer.  In  1886  he  was  the  Republi 
can  candidate  for  mayor  of  New  York  but  was 
defeated.  He  spent  some  years  ranching  in 
western  Dakota,  and  was  an  enthusiastic  hunter 
of  big  game.  He  did  valuable  service  as  a  civil 
service  commissioner,  as  police  commissioner  of 
New  York  City,  and  as  assistant  secretary  of  the 
navy.  In  the  midst  of  these  varied  activities  he 
found  time  to  write  the  best  history  then  extant 
of  the  naval  War  of  1812  and  a  more  elaborate 
work  on  "The  Winning  of  the  West,"  which  set 
in  true  perspective  the  importance  of  the  great 
westward  movement  over  the  Alleghanies.  Per 
sonally  he  was  frank,  impulsive,  courageous, 
strenuous,  an  ardent  American  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  term.  When  congress  authorized  the  rais 
ing  of  "three  cavalry  regiments  from  among  the 
wild  riders  and  riflemen  of  the  plains,"  he  was 
offered  command  of  one  of  them,  but,  doubting 
his  technical  military  knowledge,  secured  the 
appointment  of  his  friend  Wood,  with  himself 
as  second  in  command.  The  regiment  quickly 
caught  the  popular  fancy,  because  of  its  pictur- 
esqueness.  The  dispatches  of  war  correspondents 
from  the  front  gave  the  Rough  Riders  a  promi- 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      183 

nence  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  military  per 
formances — excellent  as  these  proved  to  be. 

The  army  safely  disembarked  at  Daiquiri  and 
Siboney  near  Santiago.  On  June  24th  General 
Joseph  Wheeler,  a  distinguished  ex-Confederate 
cavalry  officer,  moved  forward  with  a  force  of  dis 
mounted  cavalry  including  the  Rough  Riders 
and  struck  an  advanced  Spanish  force  at  Las 
Guasimas.  After  a  fierce  fight  in  the  hot  tropical 
forest  the  Spanish  fled  in  confusion.  On  the 
1st  of  July  the  army  moved  against  the  outer 
defenses  of  Santiago,  and  fought  two  spirited 
actions  on  and  around  San  _sLuaH-  HilL  _and  at 
El  Caney.  Owing  to  the  illness  of  the  unwieldy 
Shafter,  both  actions  were  won  through  the 
efficiency  of  the  soldiers  and  regimental  officers 
rather  than  through  skillful  generalship.  At  San 
Juan  the  Rough  Riders  were  again  in  the  thick 
of  the  fight.  Roosevelt,  who  was  now  in  com 
mand  of  the  regiment,  Wood  having  been  pro 
moted,  led  the  charge  in  his  part  of  the  field  and 
was  one  of  the  first  in  the  Spanish  intrenchments. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3rd,  fearing  capture 
from  the  besieging  army,  all  the  Spanish  fleet 
except  one  vessel  emerged  from  the  harbor  and 
endeavored  to  escape  to  the  westward.  A  running 
fight  ensued,  at  the  end  of  which  every  Spanish 
vessel  was  a  blackened  wreck  on  the  coast  of 
Cuba.  Only  one  American  was  killed  and  one 
wounded.  In  the  conflict  ,the  Oregon  especially 
distinguished  herself,  both  by  her  speed  and 
fighting  efficiency.  At  the  time  of  the  battle 
Admiral  Sampson  was  absent  with  the  flagship 
New  York,  and  the  senior  officer  present  was 


184    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

Commodore  Schley.  As  he  issued  no  orders  to 
the  other  ships,  the  battle  was  really  a  "captains' 
fight,"  but  there  was  "honor  enough  for  all." 
Two  weeks  later  Santiago  surrendered,  with  more 
than  ten  thousand  prisoners. 

The  destruction  of  Cervera's  fleet  proved  the 
decisive  battle  of  the  war.  Another  Spanish 
fleet  that  was  on  its  way  eastward  to  the  Philip 
pines  turned  back  at  the  news  in  order  not  to 
leave  the  coast  of  Spain  undefended.  It  was 
evident  that  the  Spanish  troops  in  Cuba,  cut  off 
from  supplies  and  reinforcements,  could  not  long 
hold  their  own.  An  army  under  Major-general 
Miles  landed  in  Porto  Rico  and  carried  everything 
before  it.  European  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  Spain,  whose  finances  were  in  a  de 
plorable  state.  Spanish  honor  being  satisfied, 
a  protocol  was  signed  at  Washington  on  the  12th 
of  August,  followed  in  December  by  a  definitive 
treaty.  By  this  treaty  Spain  abandoned  all  claims 
to  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  She  also  ceded  Guam 
in  the  Ladrones  archipelago  and  the  Philippines, 
consisting  of  some  three  thousand  islands  with  a 
heterogeneous  population  of  upwards  of  seven 
millions.  As  a  solatium  for  the  Philippines 
Spain  received  $20,000,000. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  conflict  had  been 
the  unpreparedness  of  the  army.  Although  our 
troops  were  victorious  in  every  battle,  it  was  due 
to  the  splendid  personnel  rather  than  to  good 
management.  The  department  of  war  showed 
itself  lamentably  inefficient.  Political  favoritism, 
red  tape,  and  general  incompetence,  if  not  criminal 
carelessness,  produced  a  state  of  chaos  in  military 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      185 

matters  that  might  in  a  war  against  a  more  re 
doubtable  antagonist  have  resulted  disastrously. 
Many  of  the  troops  were  sent  to  the  burning 
climate  of  Cuba  in  heavy  woolen  clothing,  while 
the  rations  furnished  were  not  at  all  suited  for 
such  work.  A  part  of  the  food  supplied  consisted 
of  beef  that  had  been  so  treated  with  injurious 
chemicals  that  it  gained  the  name  of  "embalmed 
beef."  After  the  surrender  of  Santiago  the 
department  displayed  such  poor  judgment  that 
it  ordered  the  army,  which  was  practically  the 
only  efficient  force  the  United  States  possessed, 
to  remain  in  a  fever-infested  region  where  it  would 
quickly  have  been  "ripe  for  dying  like  rotten 
sheep"  had  not  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  other 
officers  united  in  a  "round  robin"  which  secured 
its  removal  home.  Even  in  the  United  States 
much  incompetence  was  shown  in  the  manage 
ment  of  camps  of  volunteers,  with  the  result  that 
hundreds  needlessly  lost  their  lives  from  disease. 
Popular  indignation  produced  an  investigation 
by  a  commission,  which  brought  in  a  report 
"whitewashing"  the  department,  yet  admitting 
that  Secretary  Russell  A.  Alger  had  failed  to 
"grasp  the  situation."  President  McKinley 
feared  to  bring  discredit  upon  the  administration 
by  dismissing  him,  but  a  coolness  between  the 
men  ultimately  developed.  The  president  then 
asked  for  Alger's  resignation,  which  was  forth 
coming  (July  19,  1899).  Alger  was  succeeded 
by  Elihu  Root,  a  New  York  lawyer,  under  whose 
energetic  and  intelligent  administration  great 
reforms  were  accomplished  in  military  matters. 


186    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

As  a  war  the  conflict  had  been  so  small  as  to  be 
contemptible.  Fewer  Americans  had  fallen  in  it 
than  had  been  killed  in  combats  of  the  great 
Civil  contest  that  had  not  risen  above  the  dignity 
of  skirmishes.  But  in  its  effects  the  war  was  a 
world  movement.  For  better  or  for  worse,  the 
United  States  had  quitted  its  traditional  policy 
of  isolation  and  had  stepped  at  last  upon  the 
broad  stage  of  international  affairs.  The  restless 
energy  that  had  conquered  the  continent  west 
ward  to  the  Pacific  had  now  carried  the  flag 
beyond  the  narrow  confines  of  the  western  hemi 
sphere.  Doubtfully,  somewhat  unwillingly,  the 
nation  stooped  to  take  up  "the  White  Man's 
burden,"  and  assumed  the  government  of  strange 
peoples,  "half  devil  and  half  child,"  in  lands 
beyond  the  seas. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  congress  had 
expressly  disclaimed  for  the  United  States  all 
intention  of  acquiring  the  island  of  Cuba.  There 
were  Americans  dishonorable  enough  to  counsel 
that  this  solemn  pledge  should  be  broken,  but 
the  great  majority  favored  giving  the  Cubans 
independence.  A  provisional  government  was 
instituted  by  the  United  States  to  prepare  the 
way  for  self-government,  and  many  improvements 
in  law,  education,  and  sanitation  were  introduced. 
Yellow  fever  was  practically  stamped  out,  and 
Major  Walter  Reed,  a  United  States  army  sur 
geon,  made  the  important  discovery  that  the 
disease  is  transmitted  by  a  mosquito.  The  sani 
tation  question  was  one  in  which  the  United  States 
was  itself  deeply  interested,  for  in  the  past  many 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      187 

of  the  outbreaks  of  yellow  fever  within  the  States 
were  traceable  to  Cuba. 

In  February,  1901,  a  Cuban  convention  com 
pleted  a  constitution  for  the  island  closely  mod 
eled  after  that  of  the  United  States.  Upon  demand 
from  Washington  there  was  subsequently  em 
bodied  in  this  constitution  an  amendment  to 
the  effect  that  no  foreign  power  should  be  per 
mitted  to  acquire  or  control  any  Cuban  terri 
tory,  that  the  Cuban  government  should  not 
incur  a  debt  not  justified  by  the  revenues  of  the 
island,  that  the  United  States  should  be  given 
naval  stations  on  the  Cuban  coast,  that  the  Cuban 
government  should  attend  to  the  sanitation  of 
the  cities  of  the  island,  and  that  the  United 
States  might  intervene  to  protect  Cuban  inde 
pendence  or  to  maintain  "a  government  adequate 
for  the  protection  of  life,  property,  and  individual 
liberty."  This  so-called  "Platt  amendment'* 
roused  considerable  feeling  among  the  Cubans, 
for  it  was  practically  an  admissioii  of  an  American 
protectorate.  A  treaty  embodying  the  provisions 
of  the  amendment  was  subsequently  negotiated 
and  ratified  (1904),  and  the  United  States  ob 
tained  naval  stations  at  Guantanamo  and  Bahia 
Hondo.  In  December,  1901,  a  general  election 
was  held  in  the  island,  resulting  in  the  choice  of 
Tomas  Estrada  Palma  as  the  first  president  of 
free  Cuba.  On  May  20,  1902,  Governor  Leonard 
Wood  turned  over  his  authority  to  the  new  presi 
dent.  American  occupation  for  the  time  being 
was  at  an  end. 

Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  were  retained 


138    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

h^Llhe_Urdted-States.  Regarding  the  Philippines 
there  was  grave  difference  of  opinion,  and  the 
treaty  of  cession  was  ratified  by  the  narrow  margin 
of  one  vote.  Many  patriotic  Americans  thought 
that  the  same  course  should  be  followed  in  the 
Philippines  as  in  Cuba.  Others  gravely  doubted 
whether  a  people  so  heterogeneous  in  race,  reli 
gion,  and  customs  could  govern  themselves.  It 
was  believed  that  if  the  Filipinos  were  given  their 
independence,  anarchy  would  break  out,  and 
that  the  islands  would  fall  a  prey  to  Germany  or 
some  other  power.  Exaggerated  ideas  were  afloat 
as  to  the  tremendous  wealth  of  the  islands,  and 
there  was  much  talk  about  trade  "following  the 
flag."  It  was  popularly  supposed  that  possession 
of  the  islands  would  add  greatly  to  our  revenues 
and  would  powerfully  increase  our  prestige  in  the 
Orient. 

Under  the  leadership  of  Emilio  Aguinaldo,  an 
educated  man  of  mixed  Spanish  and  Tagalic 
blood,  the  Filipinos  had  aided  in  the  capture  of 
Manila  and  felt  that  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
occupy  it.  The  continued  arrival  of  fresh  Ameri 
can  troops  and  the  publication  of  a  presidential 
proclamation  that  seemed  to  show  an  intention 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  retain  the 
islands  produced  a  state  of  mind  that  led  to  a 
rash  step.  On  the  night  of  February  4,  1899,  the 
Filipinos  attempted  to  capture  the  city.  The 
attack  was  repulsed,  and  in  course  of  time  the 
Americans  took  the  offensive. 

The  fighting  that  followed  was  too  unequal  to 
deserve  the  name  of  warfare.  The  Filipinos 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      189 

frequently  fought  with  desperate  courage,  but 
they  were  poorly  armed  with  bolos  and  a  few 
rifles,  and  were  no  match  for  the  stalwart,  straight- 
shooting  Americans.  The  combats  were  massa 
cres  rather  than  battles.  The  Filipinos  were 
unable  to  keep  the  field,  and  the  struggle  degen 
erated  into  a  guerrilla  contest  that  was  much 
more  trying  to  the  conquerors  than  open  hostili 
ties.  Famine  and  pestilence  added  their  horrors 
to  the  ravages  of  war,  and  it  has  been  estimated 
that  in  the  three  years  that  the  conflict  endured 
some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Filipinos  perished. 
In  March,  1901,  by  means  of  a  clever  stratagem, 
Brigadier-general  Frederick  Funston,  an  officer 
who  had  served  with  the  Cubans  as  a  filibuster, 
captured  Aguinaldo,  and  gradually  resistance 
ceased. 

The  conflict  had  been  attended  by  many  regret 
table  incidents.  The  Americans  justified  their 
presence  in  the  islands  on  humanitarian  grounds, 
but  their  behavior  was  too  often  that  of  barbarians. 
In  isolated  instances  American  officers,  angered 
by  treachery  or  the  persistence  of  the  "Insur 
gents,"  resorted  to  torture,  and  the  "water  cure** 
became  a  name  of  ill-omen  in  the  United  States. 
One  such  officer,  "Hell  Roaring  Jake  Smith," 
issued  orders  to  "make  Samar  a  howling  wilder 
ness  .  .  .  kill  everything  over  ten."  For  this 
order  and  as  being  indirectly  responsible  for  the 
shooting  of  prisoners  without  trial,  he  was  sum 
marily  dismissed  from  the  service. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1902,  the  president  offi 
cially  declared  the  islands  pacified.  The  war  had 


190    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

cost  the  conquerors  about  $170.000.000.  The 
indirect  expenditures  resulting  from  the  necessary 
increase  of  the  army  and  navy  are  more  difficult 
to  determine,  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 

It  is  recognized  that  in  a  military  way  the  islands 
are  a  source  of  weakness  to  the  United  States, 
while  the  golden  dream  of  expansionists  of  the 
great  commercial  advantages  that  would  result 
from  annexation  has  not  been  realized.  The 
total  imports  of  American  goods  into  the  islands 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  SO,  1901),  amounted 
to  only  about  $0,000,000,  but  under  the  freer 
trade  conceded  by  the  Payne- Aldrich  tariff  the 
amount  has  greatly  increased. 

In  April,  1900,  a  civil  commission  of  five  Ameri 
cans,  headed  by  Judge  William  H.  Taft  of  Ohio, 
was  appointed  to  organize  a  civil  government  to 
supersede  the  military  eovernment.  A  year 
later  (July  4,  1901^1  Judge  Taft  became  civil 
governor  of  the  archipelago.  Associated  with 
him  was  a  council  of  four  other  Americans  and 
three  Filipinos.  A  mixed  supreme  court  was  also 
created.  Every  effort  was  made  to  deal  fairly 
with  the  Filipinos  and  to  justify  the  American 
occupation  by  a  government  conducted  in  their 
interests.  A  system  of  secular  schools  was 
established,  and  about  a  thousand  American 
teachers  were  sent  out  to  educate  the  natives  and 
fit  them  for  self-government.  The  movement 
resembled  a  new  crusade,  and  like  the  crusades 
some  of  its  results  were  disappointing.  The 
question  of  the  ownership  of  the  friars'  land, 
which  had  long  disturbed  the  islands,  was  ami- 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      191 

cably  settled  (1903)  by  negotiations  with  the 
Vatican. 

An  act  of  congress  (July  1, 1902)  confirmed  what 
the  Taft  commission  had  done  up  to  that  time 
and  provided  for  a  legislative  body  composed  of 
a  representative  assembly  and  the  commission, 
acting  as  a  council.  The  suffrage  was  so  hedged 
about  with  educational  and  property  qualifica 
tions  that  only  about  a  tenth  of  the  adult  maha 
could  qualify.  This  course  was  necessary  because 
many  of  the  people  were  little  more  than  savages, 
some,  in  fact,  being  "head  hunters";  compara 
tively  few  were  capable  of  casting  votes  intel 
ligently.  Congress  retained  a  veto  power  over 
all  insular  legislation,  and  provided  for  appeals 
from  the  insular  supreme  court  to  the  United 
States  supreme  court.  The  first  general  election 
was  held  in  the  islands  on  July  30,  1907,  and 
resulted  in  a  decided  victory  for  the  Nationalist 
or  independence  party.  The  legislature  held  its 
first  session  on  the  16th  of  the  following 
October. 

The  acquisition  of  the  Philippines  and  other 
islands  aroused  grave  doubts  as  to  whether  the 
American  Federal  system  was  adapted  to  the 
government  of  such  dependencies.  Territory 
previously  acquired  by  the  United  States  had 
been  sparsely  populated,  and  the  land  and  cli 
mate  were  such  as  to  lend  themselves  to  white 
settlement.  But  the  Philippines  were  already 
thickly  inhabited  by  "inferior  races,"  while  the 
tropical  climate  was  unfavorable  to  Caucasians. 
It  seemed  improbable  that  Americans  would  ever 


192    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

migrate  to  the  islands  in  large  numbers;  it  was 
almost  certain  that  the  great  majority  of  the  people 
would  always  be  Malays  and  Mongolians.  To 
admit  such  a  country  into  the  Union  as  a  state 
seemed  out  of  the  question;  it  must  always  re 
main  a  dependency.  If,  as  some  contended,  the 
constitution  follows  the  flag,  it  was  evident  that 
the  administrators  of  such  a  dependency  would 
be  greatly  hampered  by  parts  of  that  document, 
particularly  by  those  amendments  which  are 
known  as  the  "Bill  of  Rights."  Some  people 
even  denied  the  constitutional  right  of  the  United 
States  to  acquire  such  territory  at  all. 

The  administration  took  the  ground  that  the 
constitution  does  not  apply  to  new  territory  until 
expressly  extended  there  by  act  of  congress.  It 
held  that  the  constitutional  clause,  "Congress 
shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  need 
ful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory 
or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States," 
is  in  effect  a  plenary  grant.  In  what  are  known 
as  "the  Insular  Cases"  the  supreme  court, 
though  badly  divided,  in  effect  adopted  this 
view.  Congress  and  the  president  were  therefore 
left  unhampered  m  the  work  of  providing  govern 
ments  for  the  new  dependencies. 

The  theory  adopted  regarding  the  status  of  the 
inhabitants  was  that  they  were  neither  citizens 
of  the  United  States  nor  foreigners.  The  Foraker 
Act  of  April  12,  1900,  described  the  denizens  of 
Porto  Rico  as  "citizens  of  Porto  Rico,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  United 
States." 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN      193 

The  acquisition  of  the  Philippines  practically 
forced  the  United  States  to  play  a  part  in  general 
Qrjental  affairs^  At  the  time  of  the  Spanish-  ' 
American  war  a  movement  was  in  progress  among 
certain  European  powers  to  partition  China. 
Fearing  for  American  commercial  interests,  {fac 
Secretary  of  State  John  Hay,  in  September, 
1899,  addressed  notes  to  the  various  powers 
insisting  upon  the  policy  of  the  "jupen  door*!' 
t.  6.,  that  Chinese  ports  open  to  the  trade  of 
the  world  should  be  kept  open,  no  matter 
under  whose  control  they  might  fall.  Not  all 
of  the  powers  responded  favorably,  but  the 
United  States  assumed  that  the  principle  was 
established. 

The  exploitation  of  China  by  the  powers  aroused 
intense  anti-foreign  sentiment  culminating'^  1900 
in  what  was  known  as  the  Boxer  movement. 
Many  missionaries  and  native  Christians  were 
massacred,  the  German  minister  was  murdered, 
and  the  foreign  diplomatic  corps  at  Peking  were 
besieged  in  the  British  legation.  For  weeks  their 
fate  was  uncertain;  it  was  feared  that  all  had 
been  killed.  Ships  of  the  powers  shelled  the 
Taku  forts,  and  ultimately  an  allied  force,  in 
cluding  about  2,500  Americans  under  Major- 
general  Chaffee,  fought  their  way  to  the  capital, 
captured  it,  and  rescued  the  beleaguered  band. 
The  relieving  troops  behaved  in  many  cases  with 
the  utmost  barbarity,  slaughtering  the  Chinese 
and  seizing  great  quantities  of  "loot."  The  worst 
offenders  in  this  respect  were  the  Russians.  The 
American  troops  generally  behaved  admirably, 
and  American  influence  was  exerted  in  the  direc- 


194    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

tion  of  moderation  and  magnanimity.  A  great 
indemnity  was  exacted  by  the  powers.  The 
share  assigned  the  United  States  was  subsequently 
found  greatly  to  exceed  the  damages  done,  and 
the  excess  was  returned  to  China. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM 

DOUBT  still  exists  as  to  the  value  of  the  terri 
torial  results  of  the  Spanish-American  War,  but 
in  one  respect  the  conflict  was  an  unmixed  bless 
ing.  The  war  roused  a  great  wave  of  patriotic 
feeling  in  the  South  such  as  had  not  been  expe 
rienced  since  Taylor  and  Scott  led  their  armies 
into  Mexico.  For  the  first  time  since  the  sad 
days  of  secession  the  nation  became  a  real  Union 
of  hearts.  Volunteers  for  the  struggle  came  for 
ward  as  freely  in  the  South  as  in  any  other  section, 
and  a  number  of  distinguished  ex-Confederates 
accepted  high  commands.  Both  officers  and 
men  performed  their  duties  with  high  credit  to 
themselves,  and  no  one  felt  inclined  to  criticise 
if  now  and  then  a  Southern  officer,  in  the  heat  of 
action,  forgot  himself  and  adjured  his  men  to 
"give  the  Yankees  hell!"  Says  Roosevelt  in 
describing  the  progress  of  his  regiment  from  San 
Antonio  to  Tampa: 

"We  were  travelling  through  a  region  where 
practically  all  the  older  men  had  served  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  and  where  the  younger  men 
had  all  their  lives  long  drunk  in  the  endless  talcs 
told  by  their  elders,  at  home,  and  at  the  cross- 

195 


196    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

roads  taverns,  and  in  the  court-house  squares, 
about  the  cavalry  of  Forrest  and  Morgan  and  the 
infantry  of  Jackson  and  Hood.  The  blood  of  the 
old  men  stirred  to  the  distant  breath  of  battle; 
the  blood  of  the  young  men  leaped  hot  with  eager 
desire  to  accompany  us.  .  .  .  Everywhere  we 
saw  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  everywhere  we 
were  told,  half-laughing,  by  grizzled  ex-Confed 
erates  that  they  had  never  dreamed  in  the  by 
gone  days  of  bitterness  to  greet  the  old  flag  as 
they  now  were  greeting  it,  and  to  send  their 
sons,  as  they  now  were  sending  them,  to  fight  and 
die  under  it." 

In  many  other  respects  the  war  was  most  un 
fortunate.  As  invariably  happens  in  such  cases, 
the  conflict  turned  the  attention  of  the  people  from 
internal  affairs  and  directed  it  to  international 
questions.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  needed 
reforms  were  delayed,  and  that  the  people  sub 
mitted  longer  to  a  form  of  tyranny  none  the  less 
oppressive  because  it  was  less  tangible  than 
tyrannies  are  wont  to  be. 

Although  the  chief  issue  in  the  election  of  1896 
had  been  the  currency  question,  the  first  impor 
tant  act  of  the  McKinley  administration  was  to 
call  a  special  session  to  revise  the  tariff.  No 
revision  was  needed  to  secure  revenue,  but  the 
manufacturing  interests  were  clamoring  for  the 
fruits  of  victory,  and  both  McKinley  and  Hanna 
were  in  full  sympathy  with  their  desires.  "Busi 
ness"  was  at  last  in  full  control  of  the  government. 
Hanna  honestly  believed  in  the  absorption  of 
public  franchises  by  the  favored  few  and  the 
creation  of  special  interests  by  special  legislation. 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    197 

If  he  had  defined  his  idea  of  a  beneficent  govern 
ment,  it  would  have  been  something  like  this: 
"  Legislate  for  the  rich  man,  and  some  of  the  bene 
fits  will  filter  down  to  the  poor  man."  Materi 
alism  was  his  divinity,  and  he  was  not  a  disciple 
of  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  or  Thomas  Jefferson. 
He  had  secured  the  election  of  McKinley,  and 
besides  he  now  personally  occupied  a  public  post 
of  importance,  for  old  John  Sherman  had  been 
"kicked  upstairs"  from  one  of  the  Ohio  senator- 
ships  into  the  secretaryship  of  state  in  order  to 
make  a  place  for  Hanna. 

Through  the  splendid  discipline  of  the  Repub 
licans,  and  under  the  fostering  care  of  Thomas  B. 
Reed,  who  was  again  "Czar,"  a  tariff  bill  framed 
by  a  committee  of  which  Nelson  Dingley  of  Maine 
was  chairman,  was  quickly  carried  through  the 
house.  Modifications  in  the  further  interests  of 
the  powers  that  ruled  were  made  in  the  more 
plutocratic  senate,  and  toward  the  end  of  July 
theJDingley  Bilj_  became  a  law.  „  In  the  main  it 
followed  the  lines  of  the  once  repudiated  measure 
of  1890,  though  the  average  rate  was  slightly 
Ipwer^  Still  the  act  was  an  extremely  high 
tariff  measure,  being  practically  prohibitive  upon 
many  articles.^  Under  its  operation  the  people 
were  to  continue  to  behold  the  strange  anomaly  of 
great  industries  selling  articles  at  a  much  lower 
rate  abroad  than  at  home — and  paying  the  freight 
thither.  There  can  be^ncL^doubt  that  the  jact 
tended  to  put  American  consumers  at  the  mercy 
of  monopolies  by  rendering  foreign  competition 
almost  impossible,  but  that  was  exactly  what  many 
of  the  framers  of  the  act  desired. 


198    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 


A  redeejiiiiig_Jeature  _ cjf  the  Dingley 
that  it  gave  the  president  power  for  a  period  of 
two  years  to  negotiate  reciprocity  treaties  pro-  _ 
viding  for  a  reduction  of  not  more  than  20 
per  cent  of  the  Dingley  rates  or  to  place  on  the 
free  list  natural  products  that  were  not  produced 
in  the  United  States.  The  president  was  also 
authorized  to  make,  without  the  consent  of  the 
senate,  certain  limited  reciprocity  agreements. 
Several  of  these  limited  agreements  were  entered 
into,  and  seven  formal  reciprocity  treaties  were 
negotiated.  The  treaties  would  have  given  only 
moderate  relief  from  the  excessive  Dingley  rates, 
but  special  influences  proved  so  powerful  in  the 
senate  that  not  one  was  ratified.  The  senate's 
failure  to  ratify  these  treaties  was  the  more 
reprehensible  because  while  the  bill  was  pending 
it  had  been  distinctly  understood  that  the  high 
rates  in  it  were  to  be  reduced  by  reciprocity 
agreements. 

The  country  acquiesced  in  the  Dingley  Act 
and  in  the  defeat  of  the  reciprocity  treaties  with 
better  grace  than  might  have  been  anticipated,  for 
the  cause  of  freer  trade  had  received  a  heavy  blow 
in  the  panic  of  1893,  which  many  people  attributed 
to  the  dread  of  tariff  tinkering,  forgetting  that 
the  business  depression  was  world-wide  and  that  it 
was  on  the  way  even  before  Cleveland's  election. 
A  lull  in  political  agitation,  the  confidence  of  the 
financial  classes  in  the  new  administration,  the 
abatement  in  the  money  stringency  as  a  result  of 
greatly  increased  gold  production  in  South  Africa 
and  the  Klondike,  renewed  faith  in  America's 
Boundless  resources — all  these  and  other  causes 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    199 

combined  to  produce  a  great  business  revival. 
The  claims  of  protectionists  were  seemingly 
justified,  and  the  people,  with  attention  dis 
tracted  by  foreign  affairs,  generally  accepted 
the  Dingley  Act.  Few  realized  that  it  was  help 
ing  a  comparative  few  to  reap  an  altogether 
disproportionate  share  of  the  country's  rich 
harvest. 

The  demand  for  protection  was  carried  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  nation  failed  to  deal  justly 
in  trade  matters  with  its  new  possessions,  Porto 
Rico  and  the  Philippines.  Common  fairness 
demanded  that  there  should  be  free  trade  between 
these  possessions  and  the  United  States.  Even 
President  McKinley  declared  it  "our  plain  duty 
to  abolish  all  customs-tariffs  between  the  United 
States  and  Puerto  Rico."  But  the  disciples 
displayed  more  zeal  than  the  apostle.  Repre 
sentatives  of  protected  interests  grafted  upon  a 
bill  providing  a  system  of  civil  government  for 
the  island  an  amendment  levying  duties  on  goods 
coming  from  the  island  to  the  United  States 
and  going  from  the  United  States  to  the  island. 
The  Democrats  and  some  Republicans  took  the 
view  that  such  a  tax  would  not  only  be  unjust 
but  also  illegal,  and  cited  the  constitutional 
clause  which  provides  that  "all  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United 
States."  Supporters  of  the  measure  denied  that 
Porto  Rico  was  a  part  of  the  United  States,  hold 
ing  that  the  constitution  does  not  of  its  own  force 
apply  to  new  territory.  Ultimately  congress 
imposed  a  tariff  of  15  per  cent  of  the  Dingley 


200    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

rates,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  used  in 
conducting  the  government  of  the  island.  As  a 
concession  to  aroused  public  sentiment,  congress 
further  provided  that  the  tariff  should  continue 
for  only  two  years  and  that  if  in  the  meantime 
the  island  should  establish  a  system  of  taxation 
for  local  needs,  the  president  might  suspend  the 
tariff.  Porto  Rico  took  advantage  of  the  loop 
hole,  and  the  president  proclaimed  (July  25,  1901) 
free  trade  with  the  island. 

The  Philippines  were  less  fortunate.  On 
goods  coming  into  the  islands  duties  were  for  a 
time  collected  under  Spanish  laws,  but  a  tariff 
revision  act  was  presently  prepared  by  the  Philip 
pine  Commission  and  submitted  to  the  war  de 
partment  at  Washington.  Home  interests  brought 
pressure  to  bear  upon  the  department,  and  the 
measure  was  decidedly  modified  to  the  disad 
vantage  of  the  Filipinos.  American  goods  going 
to  the  Philippines  were  to  be  admitted  on  payment 
of  duties  of  from  15  to  30  per  cent.,  whereas  upon 
Philippine  goods  coming  to  the  United  States 
the  much  higher  Dingley  rates  were  to  be  col 
lected.  It  was  a  miserable  act,  unworthy  of  men 
whose  Revolutionary  sires  had  rebelled  against 
Acts  of  Trade  conceived  in  the  same  selfish  spirit. 
In  1901,  however,  the  Federal  supreme  court 
held  that  the  Philippines  were  no  longer  foreign 
territory  within  the  meaning  of  the  Dingley  Law 
and  that  the  collection  of  duties  under  that  act 
upon  goods  coming  from  the  islands  was  illegal. 
Congress  thereupon  enacted  (March  8,  1902)  a 
law  providing  that  Philippine  products  should 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM   201 

receive  the  benefit  of  a  reduction  of  25  per  cent, 
and  that  the  export  duty  levied  in  the  islands 
should  also  be  deducted.  Governor  Taft  had 
pleaded  for  a  reduction  of  75  per  cent,  but  selfish 
domestic  interests,  notably  the  Tobacco  Trust, 
proved  too  strong. 

The  control  which  the  protected  interests 
exercised  over  tariff  legislation  was  symptomatic 
of  a  condition  pervading  the  whole  public  service 
and  the  country  as  well.  The  pursuit  of  wealth 
was  glorified  as  never  before,  and  the  millionaire 
was  regarded  by  many  as  worthy  of  admiration, 
no  matter  how  he  had  obtained  his  money. 
Imperialistic  methods  abroad  were  reflected  in 
imperialistic  methods  at  home.  The  laws  meant 
to  repress  and  restrain  lawless  wealth  remained  in 
abeyance,  and  the  people  were  left  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  plunderers. 

The  period  was  especially  notable  for  the  rapid 
formation  of  great  business  combinations.  The 
depression  of  1893  had  caused  a  lull  in  consoli 
dation,  but  with  the  revival  of  business  an  unpre 
cedented  rush  to  combination  began.  Before 
1897  only  63  such  combinations  had  been  formed; 
within  the  next  three  years  183  were  organized, 
with  a  total  capitalization  of  over  four  billions  of 
dollars,  or  more  than  twice  the  money  circulation 
of  the  entire  country.  Wherever  a  semblance  of  a 
monopoly  could  be  secured,  a  promoter  stood 
ready  to  effect  an  organization,  and  a  gullible 
public  proved  eager  to  buy  the  securities. 

By  effecting  these  organizations  the  "Captains 
of  Finance"  were  not  only  able  to  crush  competi- 


202    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

tors,  but  also  to  make  millions  in  floating  schemes 
the  ultimate  object  of  which  was  to  oppress  the 
public  that  furnished  money  for  its  own  undoing. 
Exaggerated  ideas  were  abroad  concerning  the 
great  profits  of  combination,  and  these  ideas  the 
promoters  sedulously  cultivated.  Practically 
every  combination  formed  was  excessively  over 
capitalized.  Little  attention  was  paid  to  actual 
investment;  the  savings  of  combination,  good- will, 
the  profits  accruing  from  tariff  protection,  even 
those  due  to  the  evasion  of  Federal  laws  against 
rebates  and  restraint  of  trade — all  these  and  other 
assets  equally  intangible  were  capitalized.  And 
such  was  the  fever  for  speculation  that  the  public 
bought  these  watered  securities  with  the  avidity 
of  gudgeons.  "To  the  imagination  of  millions 
of  Americans,  the  financial  centres  of  the  country 
seemed  to  be  spouting  streams  of  gold  into  which 
anyone  might  dip  at  will ;  and  every  Wall  Street 
gutter  figured  as  a  new  Pactolus." 

The  largest  combination  effected  in  this  period 
was  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  formed 
in  1901  under  the  financial  management  of  J.  P. 
Morgan  and  Company.  Ten  of  the  leading  steel 
and  iron  concerns  enlisted  in  the  movement,  the 
most  important  being  the  Carnegie  Company. 
Each  of  these  concerns  was  in  itself  a  combination 
of  smaller  companies,  representing  more  than 
200  originally  independent  companies.  The  cash 
value  of  the  investment  in  all  the  plants  was 
about  $278,000,000;  their  combined  stock  and 
bond  capitalization  amounted  to  $911,700,000. 
But,  as  a  result  of  favorable  natural  conditions 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    203 

and  high  protection,  the  steel  and  iron  industry 
was  enormously  profitable,  and  it  was  expected 
that  combination  would  make  it  much  more  so. 
The  par  value  of  the  securities  issued  by  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  reached  the  enor 
mous  sum  of  $1,404,000,000. 

Numerous  instances  of  yet  more  flagrant 
overcapitalization  could  be  cited,  but  this  must 
suffice.  There  is  space  only  for  the  observation 
that  when  the  necessity  of  paying  dividends  on 
so  much  "water"  is  borne  in  mind,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  promoters  of  such  companies 
had  no  intention  of  allowing  the  general  public — 
the  consumers — to  reap  any  of  the  much  vaunted 
benefits  of  combination. 

For  a  time  the  financial  frenzy  continued,  but 
in  1903  the  inevitable  came  to  pass.  Investors 
discovered  how  poorly  performance  matched 
promise  and  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  demi-gods 
of  finance  were  too  often  no  better  than  vulgar 
swindlers.  The  disillusionment,  combined  with 
the  threatening  attitude  of  the  Roosevelt  adminis 
tration,  stopped  the  wild  rush  to  consolidation. 
Stock  exchanges  were  bloated  with  "undigested" 
and  "indigestible"  securities.  Inflated  values 
dropped  like  the  barometer  before  a  cyclone. 
Some  combinations  failed  altogether.  United 
States  Steel  preferred  stock,  which  had  once  sold 
for  101%,  touched  49;  the  common  stock,  which 
had  been  as  high  as  55,  fell  to  8%.  For  some 
time  both  stocks  stood  at  figures  not  much  higher. 
Measured  by  the  stock  market's  estimate  of 
value,  the  concern  had  been  overcapitalized  the 


204    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

enormous  sum  of  upwards  of  $800,000,000.  Yet 
the  business  prospered,  and  yielded  large  returns 
on  the  actual  investment.  Prices  fluctuated 
enormously,  but  rose  until  even  the  common 
stock  surpassed  its  previous  high  "water"  mark. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  would  never  have  hap 
pened  had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance  given  by 
the  protective  tariff. 

Subsequent  to  its  formation  the  Steel  Trust 
absorbed  other  companies,  and  also  adopted  the 
policy  of  admitting  representatives  of  independent 
companies  to  meetings  at  which  prices  and  the 
division  of  business  were  discussed.  Whether  in 
the  trust  or  not,  the  men  who  attended  such 
meetings  managed  their  business  in  accordance 
with  the  informal  understandings  there  brought 
about.  Thus  the  trust  ruled  the  steel  industry 
and  built  up  a  power  never  exceeded  in  the  com 
mercial  history  of  the  world.  Furthermore,  the 
men  controlling  the  trust  were  also  interested 
in  many  railroad  and  steamship  lines,  in  the 
manufacture  of  parlor-cars  and  farm  machinery,  in 
telegraph  lines,  banks  and  trust  companies,  and 
by  a  system  of  interlacing  directorates  produced 
a  wide-spread  community  of  interest  that  tended 
to  destroy  competition  throughout  its  range. 
Men  came  to  call  the  great  octopus  with  tentacles 
thrown  out  The  System,  and  believed  that  its 
influence  was  "incompatible  with  the  healthy 
commercial  life  of  the  nation." 

In  the  midst  of  the  period  of  "frenzied  finance" 
occurred  the  presidential  election  of  1900.  When 
the  Republican  convention  met  at  Philadelphia 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    205 

(June  19,  1900),  it  renominated  McKinley  by 
acclamation.  The  only  real  problem  the  con 
vention  had  to  solve  was  the  selection  of  a  vice- 
presidential  candidate.  Several  names  were 
suggested,  but  it  was  generally  felt  that  the  man 
who  would  add  most  strength  to  the  ticket  was 
Theoplore_JRQD;se_velt.  Upon  his  return  from  the 
~SjpSnish-American~War  Roosevelt  had  become 
governor  of  New  York.  He  soon  antagonized 
certain  great  business  interests  and  by  no  means 
pleased  Thomas  C.  Platt,  the  Republican  "boss" 
of  the  state.  Roosevelt  hoped  for  a  renomina- 
tion,  but  Platt  determined  to  make  him  vice- 
president  in  order  to  get  rid  of  him.  Roosevelt 
had  future  presidential  aspirations  and  had  no 
desire  to  be  "shelved,"  but  Platt's  political 
influence  and  his  own  great  popularity  proved 
too  much  for  him.  Among  those  who  urged  the 
convention  to  nominate  him  was  Senator  Depew 
of  New  York,  who  spoke  of  "William  McKinley, 
a  Western  man  with  Eastern  ideas ;  and  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  an  Eastern  man  with  Western  charac 
teristics."  Roosevelt  received  the  vote  of  every 
delegate  present  except  his  own,  and  perforce 
bowed  to  the  party's  will. 

The  Democratic  convention,  meeting  in  Kansas 
City  (July  4,  1900),  renominated  Bryan  by  ac 
clamation  and  selected  ex- Vice-president  Adlai 
E.  Stevenson  for  second  place  on  the  ticket.  The 
platform  pronounced  imperialism  "  the  paramount 
issue  of  the  campaign."  Banners  were  carried 
about  the  hall  bearing  such  inscriptions  as: 
"Lincoln  abolished  slavery;  McKinley  has  re- 


206    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

stored  it,"  and  "The  Flag  of  the  Republic  for 
ever,  of  an  Empire  never."  For  the  sake  of 
consistency  Bryan  forced  through  a  re-affirmation 
of  the  free  silver  plank  of  four  years  before,  but 
it  was  generally  recognized  that  the  currency 
question  was  a  dead  issue.  Owing  to  the  greatly 
increased  output  of  gold  by  the  mines  of  the  world 
our  circulation  had  in  four  years  increased  up 
wards  of  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and 
money  was  no  longer  scarce.  In  the  preceding 
March  congress  had  passed  an  act  making  the 
gold  dollar  of  25.8  grains,  nine-tenths  fine,  the 
standard  of  value,  and  as  the  senate  was  certain 
to  be  Republican  for  at  least  two  years,  the  repeal 
of  this  act  was  not  immediately  probable  or  even 
possible.  The  platform  also  denounced  the 
Dingley  Act  as  a  "trust-breeding  measure,"  and 
advocated  laws  to  "protect  individuals  and 
communities  from  discriminations  and  the  people 
from  unjust  and  unfair  transportation  rates." 

In  the  campaign  Bryan  again  received  the 
support  of  the  Populists.  Many  of  the  Gold 
Democrats  of  four  years  before  returned  to  their 
old  party,  and  some  anti-imperialistic  Republi 
cans,  such  as  Carl  Schurz  and  George  S.  Boutwell, 
declared  for  the  Democrats.  Thousands  of  Re 
publicans  were  dissatisfied  with  the  administra 
tion's  Philippine  policy,  for  in  their  inmost  hearts 
they  could  not  help  feeling  that  we  had  entered 
the  war  to  free  a  race  and  had  ended  by  enslaving 
one.  But  the  silver  heresy  of  the  Democrats 
repelled  many  of  these,  while  others  felt  that  talk 
of  "the  consent  of  the  governed"  fell  with  ill- 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    207 

grace  from  the  lips  of  a  party  that  was  strongest 
in  a  section  where  negroes  were  deprived  of 
political  rights.  The  Republicans  dwelt  with 
unction  upon  the  fat  years  of  McKinley's  rule 
and  hoisted  on  high  "the  full  dinner  pail."  They 
endeavored  to  represent  the  Filipinos  as  aggressors, 
and  the  idea  embodied  in  McKinley's  flamboyant 
sentence,  "Whenever  the  flag  is  assailed  the  only 
terms  we  ever  make  is  unconditional  surrender," 
weighed  heavily  with  the  mob.  The  Democratic 
effort  to  convince  the  people  that  imperialism 
abroad  meant  oppression  at  home  failed  to  carry 
conviction,  while  the  plutocratic  tendencies  of 
the  administration  were  not  as  yet  fully  realized. 
McKinley  received  292  electoral  votes  to  Bryan's 
155,  and  a  popular  plurality  of  832,280. 

McKinley  did  not  long  enjoy  his  new  honors. 
In  September,  1901,  he  visited  Buffalo  for  the 
purpose  of  attending  the  Pan-American  Expo 
sition.  On  the  5th  he  delivered  a  speech  which 
was  notable  because  in  it  he  indicated  a  decided 
modification  in  his  old  theory  of  protection  in  the 
direction  of  freer  trade  with  other  nations.  "  Iso 
lation,"  said  he,  "is  no  longer  possible  or  desir 
able.  .  .  .  We  must  not  repose  in  fancied  security 
that  we  can  forever  sell  everything  and  buy 
little  or  nothing.  .  .  .  Reciprocity  treaties  are  in 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  times;  measures 
of  retaliation  are  not." 

On  the  following  day  he  held  a  public  reception 
in  the  Temple  of  Music  and  shook  hands  with 
all  who  came  to  greet  him.  While  thus  engaged 
he  was  shot  twice  in  the  body  by  a  young  anar- 


208    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

chist  named  Leon  C.  Czolgosz,  who  was  subse 
quently  executed  for  the  deed.  The  wounded 
man  survived  for  a  few  days,  and  the  physicians 
held  out  hopes  of  his  recovery.  But  one  of  the 
wounds  proved  more  serious  than  they  had 
supposed;  on  the  14th  the  president  died,  the 
third  American  president  to  be  assassinated  in 
less  than  forty  years,  a  record  of  which  the  nation 
has  no  reason  to  be  proud.  He  was  buried  at  his 
old  home  in  Canton,  and  at  the  hour  of  the  cere 
monies,  by  universal  agreement,  all  business  ac 
tivities  throughout  the  country  were  suspended. 

In  the  dead  man's  private  life  there  had  been 
much  to  commend.  He  was  religious,  devoted 
to  his  wife,  temperate,  dignified,  kindly,  gentle. 
Intellectually  he  was  not  endowed  with  originality, 
but  he  possessed  shrewdness,  tact,  and  the  faculty 
of  taking  advice.  Although  no  orator,  he  always 
secured  a  hearing.  As  a  politician,  he  knew 
how  to  hold  his  ear  close  to  the  ground  and  under 
stood  the  immense  advantage  to  be  derived  from 
the  support  of  great  financial  interests.  An 
opportunist  rather  than  a  statesman,  he  was 
consistent  only  in  that  he  shaped  his  action  to 
the  party's  wishes  and  demands.  Yet  he  was 
not  truly  democratic  nor  did  he  guard  carefully 
the  true  interests  of  democracy.  His  complai 
sance  towards  men  of  wealth  and  interests  repre 
senting  wealth  and  the  influence  exerted  over 
him  by  the  corruptionist  Hanna  form  blots  that 
time  will  hardly  efface,  yet  in  his  behalf  it  can 
be  urged  that  probably  he  did  not  thoroughly 
understand  the  tendencies  of  the  times.  It  was 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  MATERIALISM    209 

his  fortune  to  be  president  at  a  period  that  was 
epoch-making,  and  hence  his  place  in  history 
will  probably  be  larger  than  that  of  some  abler 
men.  Under  him  the  United  States  definitely 
forsook  its  time-honored  policy  of  isolation  and 
became  a  world  power.  He  also  ruled  in  the 
golden  age  of  American  materialism. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY 

AFTER  taking  the  oath  as  twenty-fifth  presi 
dent  Theodore  Roosevelt  announced  that  he 
would  retain  his  predecessor's  cabinet  and  would 
endeavor  to  continue  his  policy.  Yet  his  tragic 
accession  to  power  constituted  a  political  revo 
lution  of  the  first  magnitude.  Although  both 
called  themselves  Republicans,  Roosevelt  was 
McKinley's  exact  antithesis  in  an  infinite  variety 
of  ways.  And  in  one  respect  at  least  he  differed 
from  all  of  his  recent  predecessors  —  he  had  both 
the  will  and  the  courage  to  attempt  to  enforce 
the  laws  of  the  land  against  the  gigantic  financial 
interests  that  had  become  so  sinister  and  dominant 
an  influence  in  the  politics  of  the  nation. 

In  some  respects  Roosevelt  resembled  Andrew 
Jackson  more  than  any  other  president.  Unlike 
Old  Hickory  he  had  enjoyed  the  best  of  educational 
advantages,  but  he  had  Jackson's  impulsiveness, 
his  frankness,  his  courage,  his  ability  to  lead,  and 
his  love  of  a  fight  for  a  fight's  sake.  In  reality, 
he  was  less  impulsive  than  he  seemed,  for  he 
thought  and  worked  more  quickly  than  most 
men,  and  often  an  apparently  hasty  decision  was 
a  well  matured  judgment.  It  happened  not 
210 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    211 

infrequently  that  his  enemies  believed  they  had 
caught  him  in  a  serious  mistake,  only  to  discover 
themselves  entrapped  in  a  mesh  of  circumstances 
whose  existence  the  president  had  discreetly 
held  in  reserve.  In  his  interests  he  was  more 
versatile  than  any  other  president  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

As  a  political  leader  Roosevelt  proved  to  be 
unapproached  since  Lincoln,  and  he  enjoyed  a 
personal  popularity  unequaled  since  Jackson. 
Independents  liked  him  because  they  remembered 
his  long  struggle  for  civil  service  reform  and  his 
efficient  work  as  police  commissioner  of  New 
York.  Westerners  waxed  enthusiastic  over  him 
because  he  had  made  himself  one  of  them.  Young 
men  admired  him  because  he  had  the  vigor  and 
enthusiasm  of  youth.  Politicians  supported 
him  because  of  his  ability  to  produce  pluralities. 
Journalists  approved  of  him  because  he  afforded 
them  abundant  "copy."  In  him  millions  of 
Americans  saw,  or  thought  they  saw,  qualities 
or  interests  that  they  themselves  possessed.  The 
more  discriminating  forgot  faults  that  would 
have  been  serious  had  they  not  been  submerged 
in  more  positive  virtues,  and,  as  it  was,  merely 
helped  to  round  out  a  vigorous,  picturesque, 
human  personality.  Enemies  he  had  and  virulent, 
but,  except  for  short  intervals,  they  were  of  classes 
that  do  not  figure  largely  in  the  census  returns. 
Never  before  had  a  president  been  so  talked  about, 
written  about,  photographed,  and  applauded. 

Roosevelt's  course  regarding  the  civil  service 
was  on  the  whole  what  might  have  been  expected 
of  a  man  with  his  record  on  the  subject.  His 


RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

policy  early  in  his  administration  of  appointing 
Southern  Democrats  to  office  in  sections  where 
thoroughly  competent  Republicans  could  not 
be  found  gave  especial  satisfaction  to  friends 
of  efficient  government.  Unfortunately  the  good 
feeling  caused  by  this  policy  was  temporarily 
dissipated  by  what  in  Northern  eyes  seemed  an 
unimportant  episode.  The  president  had  an 
interview  at  the  White  House  with  Booker  T. 
Washington,  the  negro  educator,  and  at  its  con 
clusion  entertained  him  at  luncheon.  Washington 
was  a  worthy  man.  From  nothing  he  had  created 
one  of  the  most  useful  educational  institutions 
in  the  country.  He  was  constantly  preaching  to 
his  race  the  much  needed  doctrine  of  thrift, 
sobriety,  and  labor.  His  influence  for  good  was 
so  widespread  that  a  prominent  Southern  historian 
called  him  the  greatest  man,  with  the  exception 
of  Robert  E.  Lee,  born  in  the  South  in  a  hundred 
years.  But  politicians  and  sensationalists  took 
up  the  episode  and  succeeded  in  convincing 
Southerners  that  the  president  had  offered  a 
deliberate  affront  to  their  section.  The  tension 
between  the  races  was  increased,  and  in  the  few 
instances  in  which  the  president  saw  fit  to  appoint 
a  negro  to  office  in  the  South  a  great  outcry  was 
raised.  At  the  village  of  Indianola,  Mississippi, 
opposition  to  negro  officeholders  developed  to  such 
an  extent  that  mob  violence  was  threatened  against 
a  negro  postmistress  who  had  filled  the  office  effi 
ciently  for  some  years.  As  the  local  authorities 
could  not  insure  her  protection,  the  president 
ordered  the  delivery  of  the  mail  at  Indianola  sus 
pended.  A  fact  that  added  to  Northern  bewilder- 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    213 

ment  was  that  the  patrons  themselves  engaged  a 
colored  man  to  carry  their  mail  from  the  nearest 
office,  so  that  they  received  it  from  black  hands 
after  all.  In  reply  to  protests  against  the  appoint 
ment  of  negroes  to  office  Roosevelt  declared  em 
phatically  that  he  could  not  consent  to  "close  the 
door  of  hope — of  opportunity  "  to  any  man  because 
of  race  or  color. 

Like  most  sudden  effervescences  Southern 
wrath  soon  subsided,  and  ultimately  the  presi 
dent  won  a  host  of  warm  admirers  in  that  section. 
The  most  dangerous  opposition  he  had  to  en 
counter  came  from  an  altogether  different  source. 
Certain  great  corporations  had  already  felt  the 
force  of  his  arm  while  he  was  governor  of  New 
York,  and  "interests"  of  the  same  sort  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  covertly  watched  his  course 
as  president.  Among  many  worthy  business 
men  there  already  existed  a  certain  dread  of  his 
youth  and  impulsiveness;  this  dread  the  "in 
terests"  secretly  fostered.  It  was  given  out  that 
the  new  president  had  a  "lawless  mind,"  that  he 
was  dangerous  to  prosperity. 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  appearance  of  such 
a  man  as  Roosevelt  upon  the  stage  of  action. 
Even  in  the  conservative  East  men  were  begin 
ning  to  question  recent  economic  tendencies  and 
to  realize  that  measures  must  be  taken  to  rule 
the  new  power  that  had  arisen.  Keen  thinkers 
conceded  the  benefits  that  accrue  in  the  way  of 
economy  and  efficiency  from  confederated  in 
dustry,  but  they  doubted  the  worth  of  such 
results  if  they  were  gained  at  the  cost  of  law 
lessness  such  as  obtains  in  a  bandit's  stronghold, 


214    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

and  if,  furthermore,  all  the  benefits  were  to  go 
to  a  few  favored  individuals.  The  belief  was 
gaining  ground  that  brilliant  as  were  our  recent 
economic  victories,  American  business  was  rot 
ten  at  the  core,  and  that  the  great  fortunes  that 
were  being  built  up  were  too  often  obtained  by 
the  use  of  methods  that  would  have  excited  the 
admiration  of  a  Machiavelli.  The  prestige  of  King 
Laissez  Faire,  Laissez  Alter,  was  still  powerful,  but 
the  day  was  at  hand  for  a  revolt  against  even  his 
long  unquestioned  authority. 

For  a  score  of  generations  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  had  been  plodding  along  the  stony  road 
that  led  to  political  equality.  In  America  this 
goal  had  in  theory  been  reached.  But  men  were 
beginning  to  see  dimly  that  political  equality 
of  itself  is  a  poor  thing  unless  accompanied  by 
something  approaching  equality  of  economic 
opportunity.  For  the  new  battle  in  behalf  of 
industrial  democracy  they  now  began  to  gird 
themselves.  The  tendencies  of  the  times  were 
Socialistic,  though  few  Americans  were  as  yet 
Socialists.  They  fought  not  for  equal  wealth 
but  for  a  fair  start.  And  assuredly  there  could 
be  no  fair  start  when  the  government  was  ad 
ministered  in  the  interests  of  a  plutocracy  of 
special  privilege. 

Some  economists  advocated  government  owner 
ship  as  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  the  day,  but 
President  Roosevelt  favored  government  control. 
In  his  first  message  to  congress  he  recommended 
Federal  supervision  of  all  industrial  combinations 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce  and  the  enaction 
of  legislation  that  would  render  impossible  the 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    215 

railway  rebates  which  had  proved  so  instrumental 
in  enabling  great  combinations  to  strangle  weaker 
competitors.  Such  recommendations  were  not 
greeted  with  any  great  enthusiasm  by  congress. 
Their  reception  in  the  senate,  many  of  whose 
members  were  rather  the  paid  attorneys  of  pow 
erful  financial  interests  than  representatives  of 
the  states  they  were  supposed  to  serve,  proved 
particularly  cold.  It  soon  became  apparent  that 
congress  would  do  nothing  unless  Roosevelt 
could  rouse  the  people  and  thereby  force  congress 
to  legislate  along  progressive  lines.  During  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1902  he  made  numerous 
speeches  in  New  England  and  the  Middle  West 
in  which  he  elaborated  his  theory  of  a  "square 
deal"  and  appealed  for  support  in  the  enforcement 
of  the  law.  At  Cincinnati  (September  20,  1902) 
he  said: 

"We  must  resolutely  purpose  to  proceed  by 
evolution  and  not  by  revolution.  .  .  .  The  evils 
attendant  upon  over-capitalization  alone  are 
in  my  judgment  sufficient  to  warrant  a  far  closer 
supervision  and  control  than  now  exists  over  the 
great  corporations.  .  .  .  We  do  not  wish  to  de 
stroy  corporations;  but  we  do  wish  to  make  them 
subserve  the  public  good.  All  individuals,  rich 
or  poor,  private  or  corporate,  must  be  subject  to 
the  law  of  the  land;  .  .  .  and  the  Government 
will  hold  them  to  a  rigid  obedience.  The  biggest 
corporation,  like  the  humblest  private  citizen, 
must  be  held  to  strict  compliance  with  the  will 
of  the  people  as  expressed  in  the  fundamental 
law.  The  rich  man  who  does  not  see  this  is  in 
his  interest  is  indeed  short-sighted.  When  we 


216    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

make  him  obey  the  law,  we  insure  for  him  the 
absolute  protection  of  the  law." 

Meanwhile  the  president  endeavored  to  en 
force  the  laws  already  on  the  statute  books.  By 
his  direction  Attorney-general  Knox  brought 
suit  against  the  Northern  Securities  Company,  a 
holding  company  organized  under  the  laws  of 
New  Jersey  for  the  purpose  of  "  merging  "  the  inter 
ests  of  the  Great  Northern  and  Northern  Pacific 
railways  and  destroying  competition.  The  govern 
ment  was  sustained  both  by  the  Federal  circuit 
court  (April  9,  1903)  and  by  the  supreme  court 
(March  14,  1904).  The  company  was  forced  to 
dissolve,  but  the  public  good  resulting  proved 
disappointingly  small.  It  was  becoming  more 
and  more  apparent  that  some  sort  of  government 
control  over  rates  was  necessary.  Proceedings 
were  also  begun  against  a  powerful  combination 
of  meat  packers  known  as  the  Beef  Trust,  and  an 
injunction  was  secured  (1903)  restraining  the 
defendants  from  combining,  fixing  prices  arbi 
trarily,  curtailing  supplies  of  meat,  enforcing 
penalties  upon  retail  dealers,  and  otherwise 
restraining  trade.  Such  activity  more  than  ever 
confirmed  the  "interests"  in  the  opinion  that 
Roosevelt  was  "unsafe."  He  was  bitterly  de 
nounced  as  revolutionary  if  not  anarchical. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1902  the  country 
received  a  striking  object  lesson  in  the  evils  of 
uncontrolled  monopoly.  In  Pennsylvania,  one 
of  the  worst  corporation-ridden  states  in  the 
Union,  certain  coal-carrying  railroads  had  man 
aged,  despite  the  prohibition  of  the  state  consti 
tution,  to  secure  control  of  practically  all  the 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    217 

anthracite  coal  mines.  Although  protected  against 
foreign  competition  by  the  Dingley  tariff,  the 
companies  displayed  little  of  the  concern  for  the 
interests  of  their  workingmen  that  is  so  prom 
inently  put  forward  when  tariff  laws  are  in  course 
of  enaction.  Wages  were  low,  and  the  companies, 
by  manipulating  freight  rates,  reduced  the  osten 
sible  profits  of  mining  in  order  to  justify  a  refusal 
to  raise  wages  and  to  furnish  an  excuse  for  raising 
the  price  of  coal.  The  miners  offered  to  submit 
their  claims  to  arbitration,  but  the  companies 
curtly  refused,  and  a  strike  followed  (May  12, 
1902),  involving  about  150,000  men.  Under  the 
leadership  of  John  Mitchell,  president  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  a  man  of 
singularly  sane  views,  the  strikers  generally  re 
frained  from  violence  and  retained  the  sympathy 
of  the  public. 

The  deadlock  continued  through  the  summer, 
and  when  the  cold  days  of  autumn  came,  Eastern 
cities  were  practically  without  coal.  Prices 
soared  high,  and  in  many  places  fuel  could  not  be 
obtained  for  any  money.  The  poor  suffered,  and 
even  hospitals  had  to  go  without  fires.  The 
mine  owners  behaved  in  a  most  arrogant  manner, 
and  in  the  hope  of  producing  a  reaction  against 
the  strike  withheld  most  of  the  coal  they  had  on 
hand.  Popular  indignation  flamed  high  against 
the  monopolists;  some  ordinarily  conservative 
men  even  advocated  the  seizure  of  the  mines  by  the 
Federal  government  under  the  right  of  eminent 
domain.  A  widespread  appeal  was  made  to  the 
president  to  take  some  action  that  would  give 
relief.  Although  realizing  that  he  had  no  legal 


218    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

authority  in  the  matter,  Roosevelt  summoned 
representatives  of  both  parties  to  Washington  and 
appealed  to  them  to  sink  personal  considerations 
for  the  public  good.  Mitchell  promptly  offered  to 
submit  the  issues  to  a  tribunal  which  the  presi 
dent  should  name.  The  operators  haughtily 
refused,  and  denounced  the  president  for  not 
having  stopped  the  strike.  Public  anger  and 
disgust  proved  so  intense,  however,  that  the 
operators  soon  found  it  expedient  to  reconsider 
and  accept  arbitration.  Work  was  at  once  re 
sumed  in  the  mines,  the  suffering  from  the  want 
of  coal  was  quickly  relieved,  and  the  arbitration 
tribunal  brought  in  a  decision  favorable  in  the 
main  to  the  miners.  The  outcome  greatly  en 
hanced  the  president's  influence  among  the 
people,  but  it  did  not  increase  his  popularity 
among  the  representatives  of  predatory  capital. 

After  a  long  and  bitter  fight  the  president's 
efforts  began  to  bear  fruit.  In  December,  1903, 
he  managed  to  force  through  congress,  against 
the  opposition  of  the  cane  sugar  producers  of 
Louisiana  and  the  beet  sugar  interests  of  the 
North,  favorable  reciprocity  concessions  to  Cuba. 
At  the  same  session  congress  consented  to  estab 
lish  a  new  department  of  commerce  and  labor, 
with  a  bureau  of  corporations  to  collect  infor 
mation  concerning  combinations  engagedan  foreign 
and  interstate  commerce.  The  president  also 
secured  the  passage  of  the  so-called  Elkins  Act 
directed  against  rebates,  but  the  law  was  much 
less  drastic  than  the  administration  desired. 

Meanwhile  important  events  of  a  diplomatic 
nature  were  occurring.  In  1903  an  arbitration 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    219 

tribunal  decided  the  long  disputed  Alaskan 
boundary  question  in  a  manner  decidedly  favor 
able  to  the  United  States.  During  1902-05  the 
attempt  of  Germany  and  other  powers  to  collect 
debts  owed  their  citizens  by  Venezuela  and  Santo 
Domingo  threatened  grave  international  compli 
cations.  Through  American  influence,  the  claims 
against  Venezuela  were  ultimately  submitted  to 
The  Hague  tribunal,  which  scaled  them  down 
(February  22,  1904)  very  decidedly.  In  the  Santo 
Domingo  case  the  United  States  took  charge 
(1905)  of  the  republic's  custom-houses  and  ad 
ministered  its  finances  in  the  interests  of  the 
creditors.  As  a  corollary  to  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine  the  president  announced  the  responsibility 
of  the  United  States,  in  flagrant  cases  of  a  similar 
character,  to  exercise  "an  international  police 
power,"  and  to  act  as  the  agent  in  such  collection. 
Of  far  greater  public  interest  were  developments 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  For  centuries  men 
had  dreamed  of  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus,  and 
following  the  great  rush  of  gold  seekers  to  Cali 
fornia,  the  United  States  had  taken  tentative 
steps  to  make  the  canal  a  reality.  For  almost  half 
a  century  there  was  a  vast  amount  of  talk  about 
a  canal,  but  little  was  actually  done.  The  long 
voyage  of  the  Oregon  around  South  America 
served  as  a  popular  object  lesson  of  the  crying 
need  of  such  a  canal  from  a  naval  point  of  view, 
while  the  exorbitant  freight  rates  on  goods  going 
to  and  coming  from  the  Pacific  coast  furnished 
an  effective  commercial  argument.  It  was  felt, 
however,  that  such  an  enterprise  ought  to  be 
under  purely  American  control,  and  the  Clay- 


220    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

ton-Bulwer  Convention  of  1850  with  Great  Britain 
stood  in  the  way.  Numerous  efforts  were  made 
to  abrogate  the  treaty,  and  shortly  after  Roose 
velt  came  to  power  the  work  was  accomplished. 
The  new  treaty,  signed  by  Secretary  Hay  and 
Lord  Pauncefote,  in  effect  provided  that  the 
United  States  might  construct  a  canal  entirely 
under  its  own  auspices  and  manage  the  highway 
as  it  deemed  proper. 

At  this  time  it  was  generally  supposed  that  the 
canal  would  follow  the  Nicaragua  route.  An 
American  company  had  dore  some  work  on  such 
a  canal  in  the  early  '90s,  and  the  Federal  govern 
ment  had  expended  considerable  money  in  inves 
tigating  the  practicability  of  the  Nicaragua  route. 
Even  before  this  a  French  company,  headed  by 
Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  the  builder  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  had  begun  a  canal  on  the  Isthmus  of  Pan 
ama,  but  the  affair  was  badly  managed,  and  work 
had  to  be  suspended.  About  the  time  of  the  abro 
gation  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Convention  the  af 
fairs  of  the  French  company  reached  such  a  crisis 
that  early  in  1902  it  offered  to  sell  all  its  rights  to 
the  United  States  for  $40,000,000.  Under  author 
ization  from  congress  a  commission  headed  by 
Admiral  John  G.  Walker  was  already  investigating 
the  comparative  practicability  of  the  respective 
routes;  the  commission  now  recommended  that 
the  Panama  route  be  adopted.  Congress  author 
ized  the  president  to  purchase  the  French  com 
pany's  rights  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  $40,000,000 
and  to  acquire  from  the  republic  of  Colombia 
perpetual  control  over  a  strip  of  land  not  less 
than  six  miles  wide  extending  from  sea  to  sea. 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    221 

An  argument  that  weighed  heavily  in  inducing 
congress  to  favor  the  Panama  route  was  that  it 
was  less  subject  to  earthquakes  and  volcanic 
disturbances  than  that  through  Nicaragua.  The 
argument  proved  particularly  effective  because 
of  the  popular  excitement  over  the  terrible  out 
break  of  Mont  Pelee  on  the  island  of  Martinique. 

A  treaty  was  presently  negotiated  with  the 
Colombian  charge  (January  22,  1903)  leasing  a 
strip  of  land  six  miles  wide,  in  return  for  which 
the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  $10,000,000 
down  and  an  annuity  of  $250,000.  The  United 
States  senate  soon  ratified  the  treaty,  but  strong 
opposition  to  the  pact  developed  in  Colombia. 
In  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  better  bargain  and 
perhaps  of  confiscating  the  property  of  the  French 
company,  whose  concession  would  soon  expire, 
the  Colombian  senate  rejected  the  treaty. 

The  residents  of  the  Panama  region  had  ex 
pected  great  things  from  the  canal,  and  felt  deeply 
disgruntled  at  the  dog-in-the-manger  policy  of 
their  government.  Encouraged  and  assisted 
by  agents  of  the  French  company,  they  seceded 
from  Colombia  and  set  up  an  independent  state. 
The  American  government  kept  clear  of  the  move 
ment  until  it  was  actually  begun,  when  a  naval 
force  carried  out  an  order  from  Washington  to 
"prevent  the  landing  of  any  force  with  hostile 
intent,  either  Government  or  insurgent,  at  any 
point  within  50  miles  of  Panama."  The  justi 
fication  for  this  order  lay  in  the  treaty  of  1846 
which  contained  a  stipulation  that  the  United 
States  should  keep  open  the  right  of  way  of  the 
Panama  Railway  Company.  Under  this  article 


222    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

President  Cleveland  had  in  1885  landed  troops 
at  the  time  of  the  Prestien  rebellion.  But  it  can 
hardly  be  denied  that  the  administration's  ac 
tion  in  the  present  case  created  a  situation  very 
favorable  to  revolution. 

The  revolutionists  quickly  mastered  the  isth 
mus,  American  marines  landed  at  Colon,  and 
American  ships  stood  in  the  way  of  Colombia's 
sending  any  more  troops  to  the  seat  of  the  trouble. 
On  the  6th  of  November,  three  days  after  the 
revolt  began,  Secretary  Hay  instructed  the 
American  consul  to  recognize  the  de  facto  govern 
ment.  A  week  later  Philippe  Bunau-Varilla, 
former  chief  engineer  of  the  French  company  but 
now  minister  of  the  new  republic,  was  formally 
received  by  President  Roosevelt.  Other  powers 
followed  the  American  lead,  and  Colombia  found 
herself  powerless  to  do  more  than  protest.  A 
convention  was  quickly  negotiated  with  Panama 
(November  18,  1903)  whereby  the  United  States 
agreed  to  guarantee  the  independence  of  the  new 
republic.  In  return  Panama  ceded  to  the  United 
States  perpetual  control  of  a  zone  ten  miles  wide 
across  the  Isthmus,  the  United  States  agreeing  to 
pay  therefor  $10,000,000  down  and  an  annuity 
of  $250,000  beginning  nine  years  thereafter.  De 
spite  opposition,  the  treaty  was  duly  ratified  by 
the  senate  (February  23,  1904)  by  a  vote  of  66 
to  14. 

Grave  difference  of  opinion  existed  as  to  our 
course  in  the  matter.  President  Roosevelt  justi 
fied  his  action  on  the  ground  of  Colombia's 
mercenary  conduct  and  her  inability  to  preserve 
order.  He  contended  that  Colombia  had  no  right 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    223 

"to  bar  the  transit  of  the  world's  traffic  across 
the  isthmus,"  and  argued  that  "intervention  was 
justified  by  the  treaty  of  1846,  by  our  national 
interests,  and  by  the  interests  of  civilization  at 
large."  To  many  his  arguments  were  not  con 
clusive,  but  Colombia  had  behaved  in  so  un- 
neighborly  a  fashion  and  the  prospect  of  a  canal 
was  so  fascinating  that  the  great  body  of  Amer 
icans  applauded  the  accomplished  fact  and  did 
not  care  to  scrutinize  too  closely  the  means  by 
which  it  had  been  brought  about. 

The  purchase  of  the  French  company's  inter 
ests  was  consummated,  and  steps  were  taken 
"to  make  the  dirt  fly."  Transcontinental  rail 
roads  and  political  opponents  of  the  president 
did  what  they  could  to  make  the  enterprise  a 
failure,  and  for  a  time  the  engineers  selected  to 
manage  the  work  proved  themselves  in  one  way 
or  another  unfitted  for  the  task.  But  much  was 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  sanitary  precautions 
and  the  assembling  of  material,  and  the  lock 
type  of  canal  was  fixed  upon.  Early  in  1907  the 
president  took  the  wise  step  of  committing  the 
great  undertaking  to  army  engineers.  Since  then, 
under  the  capable  direction  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
George  W.  Goethals,  progress  has  been  rapid. 
Present  indications  point  to  the  completion  of  the 
canal  not  later  than  1913. 

President  Roosevelt  inherited  from  his  prede 
cessor  some  flagrant  frauds  in  the  post-office 
department.  Many  politicians  urged  that  the 
matter  should  be  hushed  up,  but  with  character 
istic  energy  the  president  worked  to  purge  the 
administration  of  the  wrong-doers.  In  1903-04 


224    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

a  searching  investigation  conducted  by  Fourth 
Assistant-postmaster-general  Bristow  disclosed 
the  fact  that  conspirators  by  collusion  in  con 
tracts  and  in  other  ways  had  cheated  the  govern 
ment  out  of  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars.  Many  officers  resigned  or  were  removed. 
Upwards  of  forty  were  indicted,  and  many  were 
convicted,  but  some  of  the  leaders  escaped  by 
invoking  the  statute  of  limitations.  Under  Roose 
velt's  inspiration,  Senator  Burton  of  Kansas  was 
prosecuted  for  illegally  using  his  influence  with 
the  post-office  department  to  prevent  the  issue 
of  a  fraud  order  against  a  company  of  question 
able  character.  Burton  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  a  year  in  the  penitentiary.  Another 
senator  was  tried  on  a  charge  of  bribery  in 
connection  with  the  post-office  but  escaped 
conviction. 

The  president's  action  in  these  cases  greatly 
increased  his  popularity,  but  some  of  the  party 
leaders  and  the  "special  interests"  failed  to  de 
velop  any  notable  enthusiasm  for  him.  In  the 
winter  of  1903-04  a  movement  was  begun  to 
prevent  his  nomination  and  to  substitute  Senator 
Hanna,  head  of  the  Republican  national  com 
mittee.  But  in  February,  1904,  Hanna  died; 
and  popular  feeling,  aroused  by  the  conspiracy, 
made  itself  felt  in  so  unmistakable  a  fashion  as  to 
enable  Roosevelt  to  dominate  the  party  com 
pletely.  When  the  convention  met  in  Chicago 
in  June,  it  nominated  him  by  acclamation,  with 
Senator  Charles  W.  Fairbanks  of  Indiana  as 
his  associate  on  the  ticket.  Fairbanks  represented 
the  conservative  wing,  and  his  reserved  and 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY 

formal  manners  won  for  him  the  nickname  of 
"Icebanks." 

The  Democratic  convention  met  at  St.  Louis 
on  July  6th.  Bryan's  successive  defeats  had 
weakened  his  hold  upon  the  party,  and  the  "  safe 
and  sane"  element  controlled  the  convention. 
Nevertheless,  Bryan  succeeded  in  excluding  from 
the  platform  all  reference  to  the  money  question. 
On  the  first  ballot,  Alton  B.  Parker,  chief  judge  of 
the  New  York  court  of  appeals,  was  nominated 
for  the  presidency,  his  nearest  competitor  being 
William  Randolph  Hearst,  the  owner  of  the 
Hearst  newspapers.  Judge  Parker  immediately 
telegraphed  to  the  convention  that  he  considered 
"the  gold  standard  as  firmly  and  irrevocably 
established,"  and  that  if  this  view  was  unsatis 
factory  to  the  majority,  he  must  decline  the 
nomination.  Contrary  to  the  wishes  of  Bryan, 
the  convention  replied  that  the  platform  was 
silent  on  the  money  question  because  it  was  not 
regarded  "as  a  possible  issue  in  this  campaign." 
For  the  vice-presidency  the  convention  nomi 
nated  Henry  Gassaway  Davis,  an  octogenarian 
millionaire  of  West  Virginia. 

Judge  Parker  owed  his  nomination  to  conserva 
tive  influences,  and  he  was  more  satisfactory  to 
"the  interests"  than  Roosevelt.  But  it  presently 
became  apparent  that  Parker  would  be  defeated, 
and  "Big  Business,"  not  being  in  the  habit  of 
backing  losing  causes,  rendered  him  compara 
tively  little  aid.  Bryan  supported  the  ticket 
loyally,  but  hundreds  of  thousands  of  his  ad 
mirers  could  not  forget  that  the  influences  behind 
Judge  Parker  had  repudiated  the  candidate  in 


226    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

1896.  The  Democrats  made  the  mistake  of  fight 
ing  the  campaign  largely  on  the  issue  of  Roose 
velt's  personality  and  raised  the  cry  that  the 
constitution  was  in  danger.  As  a  forlorn  hope, 
Judge  Parker  took  the  stump,  but  his  abilities 
as  a  speaker  and  leader  proved  mediocre.  He 
made  extravagant  charges  regarding  the  govern 
ment  of  the  Philippines  that  he  was  unable  to 
substantiate,  and  in  speeches  at  Madison  Square 
Garden  and  elsewhere  he  insinuated  that  his 
opponent  had  placed  George  B.  Cortelyou  in 
charge  of  the  Republican  campaign  because 
Cortelyou,  having  been  secretary  of  the  depart 
ment  of  commerce  and  labor,  possessed  corpora 
tion  secrets  that  put  him  in  a  favorable  position 
to  blackmail  the  trusts  into  making  campaign 
contributions.  Roosevelt  issued  a  heated  reply 
characterizing  the  charge  as  "unqualifiedly  and 
atrociously  false."  He  admitted  that  corporations 
were  contributing  to  the  Republican  fund  as 
others  were  to  the  Democratic  fund,  but  he 
pointed  out  that  the  department  of  commerce 
and  labor  had  been  so  recently  organized  that  as 
yet  it  had  no  corporation  secrets.  He  declared 
that,  if  elected,  he  would  go  into  the  presidency 
unhampered  by  any  pledge  or  promise  except  to 
"see  to  it  that  every  man  has  a  square  deal,  no 
less  and  no  more." 

The  returns  from  the  election  showed  that  Judge 
Parker  was  the  worst  defeated  man  since  Horace 
Greeley.  The  apostle  of  "the  square  deal" 
received  336  electoral  votes  as  against  140  for 
his  opponent,  and  a  popular  plurality  of  upwards 
of  two  millions  and  a  half.  He  carried  even 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY 

Missouri  and  Kentucky  and  received  one  electoral 
vote  in  Maryland.  The  moment  that  the  result 
was  no  longer  in  doubt  Roosevelt  issued  a  short 
statement  to  the  effect  that  he  would  under  no 
circumstances  be  a  candidate  for  re-election.  It 
was  his  declaration  of  independence  from  the 
politicians. 

A  notable  feature  of  the  election  was  the  inde 
pendence  displayed  by  the  voters.  In  five  of  the 
states  carried  by  Roosevelt,  Democratic  governors 
were  elected,  and  in  many  places  smashing  blows 
were  delivered  at  political  machines.  Every 
where  there  was  a  revolt  against  political  corrup 
tion  and  the  rule  of  the  plutocracy.  The  result 
is  attributable  in  large  measure  to  the  president's 
utterances  in  favor  of  reform  and  to  a  campaign 
along  the  same  lines  conducted  by  certain  power 
ful  magazines.  Franchise-looting  was  falling  into 
disfavor,  and  in  several  cities,  notably  Chicago, 
Toledo,  and  Cleveland,  mayors  were  chosen 
who  advocated  municipal  ownership  of  public 
utilities.  Both  before  and  after  the  election  the 
"muck  rakers"  stirred  every  political  cesspool  to 
its  depths,  and  though  the  results  often  distressed 
patriotic  Americans,  there  was  promise  of  better 
things.  Bad  conditions  still  continued  in  many 
places.  Some  cities  and  states  remained  "cor 
rupt  and  unashamed."  Selfish  interests  still 
lurked  in  the  shadows  watching  covertly  for  the 
first  signs  of  public  indifference  in  order  to  ac 
complish  their  corrupt  designs.  But  the  atmos 
phere  had  been  cleared.  The  years  of  Roosevelt's 
rule  will  always  be  notable  for  a  revolution  in  the 
attitude  of  men  toward  political  and  financial 
matters. 


228    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

In  the  summer  of  1905  President  Roosevelt 
stood  on  perhaps  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame 
ever  attained  by  an  American  in  his  own  lifetime. 
At  home  the  voice  of  faction  was  temporarily 
stilled;  even  Democrats  paid  homage  to  the 
president's  honesty  of  purpose.  By  aiding  in 
bringing  to  a  close  the  bloody  Japanese-Russian 
war  he  performed  a  service  for  humanity  at  large 
that  won  for  him  the  coveted  Nobel  prize  and  the 
admiration  of  both  hemispheres.  Even  by  his 
bitterest  enemy  among  newspapers  he  was  re 
spectfully  greeted  as  "the  world's  first  citizen." 

Such  homage  was  flattering,  but  it  could  not 
last.  As  time  passed,  the  president's  prosecution 
of  powerful  lawbreakers  and  his  efforts  to  secure 
further  reforms  roused  an  opposition  that  grew 
more  and  more  bitter.  His  last  administration 
proved  a  period  of  almost  constant  struggle, 
and  his  conflicts  with  congress  and  with  individ 
uals  assumed  a  personal  character  that  reminded 
the  historian  of  the  days  of  Johnson  and  Jackson. 
In  the  fall  of  1907  a  financial  panic  reacted  upon 
his  administration  as  such  an  event  always 
reacts  upon  the  party  in  power.  By  dismissing 
from  the  service  without  honor  a  battalion  of 
colored  troops,  some  of  whom  had  "shot  up" 
the  town  of  Brownsville,  Texas,  he  also  alienated 
many  negroes.  Yet  throughout  his  term  of 
office  his  influence  with  the  people  remained  the 
despair  of  his  enemies. 

During  these  four  years  the  government  se 
cured  the  conviction  of  numerous  shippers  and 
railroads  for  rebating,  and  practically  broke 
up  the  practice.  One  great  disappointment  was 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    229 

experienced.  The  powerful  Standard  Oil  Company 
was  convicted  in  a  Federal  court  of  repeated 
violations  of  the  anti-rebate  law,  and  Judge 
Kenesaw  M.  Landis  inflicted  (1907)  the  extreme 
penalty  of  the  law— a  fine  of  $29,240,000.  But 
the  case  was  carried  to  higher  courts,  and  the 
company  escaped  on  a  technicality.  This  and 
similar  miscarriages  of  justice  roused  bitter 
criticisms  of  the  courts  and  system  of  jurispru 
dence  which  culminated  in  some  Western  states 
in  a  movement  favoring  a  constitutional  provi 
sion  for  the  "recall"  of  unsatisfactory  judges. 

In  1907  actions  were  begun  to  dissolve  both  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  and  the  American  To 
bacco  Company.  After  four  years  of  tedious 
litigation  the  Supreme  Court  decreed  that  both 
companies  were  guilty  of  violating  the  Sherman 
Act.  But  the  order  of  dissolution  was  in  some 
respects  so  perfunctory  that  many  people  believed 
the  public  would  derive  little  benefit  from  it; 
that  the  trusts  in  question  would  "merely  change 
their  clothes."  By  reading  the  word  "unreason 
able"  into  the  statute  the  court  also  brought 
upon  itself  the  charge  of  emasculating  the  law  by 
"judicial  legislation."  A  few  months  after  these 
decisions  were  handed  down  the  Taft  adminis 
tration  brought  suit  against  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  which  hitherto  had  enjoyed 
immunity  from  prosecution.  In  both  radical  and 
conservative  circles  it  was  felt,  however,  that  the 
Sherman  Act  was  unsatisfactory  and  ought  to  be 
repealed  or  amended.  Many  economists  believed 
that  efforts  to  break  up  the  great  combinations 
ran  counter  to  natural  business  evolution;  they 


230    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

held  that  control  by  the  Federal  government  was 
the  rightful  remedy. 

Roosevelt's  greatest  victory  in  the  way  of 
reform  legislation  was  won  during  the  long  session 
of  the  fifty-ninth  congress.  With  the  aid  of  many 
Democrats,  and  after  a  bitter  fight,  he  secured 
the  passage  of  a  pure  food  law,  a  meat  inspection 
law,  and  a  more  stringent  railway  rate  law.  The 
last-named  act  increased  the  membership  of  the 
interstate  commerce  commission  to  seven  and 
fixed  their  salaries  at  $10,000  per  year.  It 
authorized  the  commission  to  fix  a  maximum, 
just,  and  reasonable  rate  of  transportation  when 
the  rate  in  force  has  been  complained  of,  but 
granted  to  the  transportation  companies  the 
right  of  appeal  to  the  courts.  In  1910  a  special 
commerce  court  was  created  to  deal  with  such 
cases.  The  act  forbade  rebates  under  heavy  pen 
alties.  Pipe-lines,  sleeping-car  companies,  and 
express  companies  were  declared  common  carriers 
and  were  made  subject  to  the  law.  The  act  also 
forbade  the  granting  of  passes  to  any  except 
specified  classes  of  persons  and  thereby  struck  a 
blow  at  a  custom  whereby  railroads  had  managed 
covertly  to  influence  the  action  of  public  officers, 
including  even  judges.  The  president  failed,  how 
ever,  to  obtain  a  reduction  of  the  Philippine  tariff 
and  an  act  requiring  railroads  and  other  corpora 
tions  doing  interstate  business  to  obtain  Federal 
charters. 

Popular  support  in  favor  of  such  measures 
was  increased  by  repeated  disclosures  of  the 
nefarious  operations  of  "Big  Business."  In 
New  York  a  joint-committee  of  the  legislature 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    231 

revealed  grave  mismanagement  in  the  affairs  of 
certain  great  mutual  life  insurance  companies. 
It  appeared  that  some  of  the  companies  had 
contributed  large  sums  to  the  Republican  cam 
paign  fund  and  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
using  stockholders'  money  to  influence  legislation 
and  the  press.  Gross  favoritism  existed  in  ap 
pointments  and  salaries,  and  the  chief  officers 
were  guilty  of  manipulating  company  funds 
for  their  own  private  advantage.  Subsequently 
it  was  asserted  that  Senator  Foraker  of  Ohio, 
Senator  Bailey  of  Texas,  Governor  Haskell  of 
Oklahoma,  and  other  public  officers  had  accepted 
large  sums  of  money  from  the  Standard  Oil  Com 
pany  or  other  monopolies  under  circumstances 
which,  to  say  the  least,  showed  gross  indelicacy 
on  their  part.  These  and  other  disclosures  went 
far  to  justify  radical  charges  of  dishonesty  in  the 
management  of  great  business  enterprises.  The 
insurance  revelations  resulted  in  the  enaction  in 
1907  of  a  national  law  prohibiting  corporations 
from  contributing  to  campaign  funds. 

Throughout  his  presidency  Roosevelt  devoted 
much  attention  to  the  public  domain.  He  secured 
the  reclamation  of  vast  areas  of  arid  lands  by 
irrigation,  and  he  did  much  to  build  up  the  nation's 
forest  reserves,  adding  at  one  time  17,000,000 
acres  to  such  reserves.  In  public  speeches  and  in 
messages  to  Congress  he  urged  the  desirability 
of  conserving  natural  resources  and  the  retention 
of  mineral  wealth  and  water-power  sites  in  public 
hands.  The  public  lands  had  long  been  a  prey  to 
sharks  of  every  sort,  but  a  stop  was  put  to  their 
activities  by  the  conviction  and  punishment  of 


232    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

one  United  States  senator,  two  congressmen, 
and  many  smaller  thieves.  Thoughtful  men 
had  long  realized  the  desirability  of  conserving 
our  natural  resources  against  the  criminal  waste 
that  had  so  long  obtained,  and  the  conservation 
movement  enlisted  powerful  support  in  all  parties. 

In  August,  1906,  a  rebellion  broke  out  in  Cuba 
against  the  Palma  administration.  The  movement 
quickly  became  so  formidable  that  Palma,  feeling 
himself  unable  to  protect  life  and  property,  re 
quested  the  United  States  to  intervene  under  the 
Platt  amendment.  After  some  hesitation  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  sent  Secretary  of  War  Taft  and 
Acting-secretary  of  State  Bacon  to  Cuba  to  in 
vestigate  the  situation.  They  found  it  so  bad 
that  on  the  29th  of  September  Taft  issued  a 
proclamation  taking  temporary  possession  of 
the  island  in  the  name  of  the  United  States. 
Six  thousand  troops  were  sent  thither  as  an 
army  of  occupation,  and  Charles  E.  Magoon 
was  appointed  provisional  governor.  Subse 
quently  an  election  was  held,  and  when  the  new 
officers  were  installed  (February  28,  1909),  the 
United  States  withdrew  a  second  time  from  the 
island. 

About  the  time  the  Cuban  occupation  began, 
a  strained  situation  developed  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan.  The  old  hostility  to 
Orientals  had  again  flamed  up  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  the  San  Francisco  school  authorities 
excluded  Japanese  children  from  the  white 
schools,  while  mobs  mistreated  adult  Japanese 
on  the  streets  and  attacked  their  shops.  Japan 
protested  against  the  school  order  (October,  1906), 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    233 

and  President  Roosevelt  sent  the  secretary  of 
commerce  and  labor  to  San  Francisco  to  make  an 
investigation.  As  it  was  doubtful  whether  the 
Federal  government  had  power  to  interfere  in  the 
affair,  the  president  used  moral  suasion  upon  the 
San  Francisco  authorities,  who  consented  to 
withdraw  the  segregating  order  provided  the 
president  would  take  steps  to  prevent  the  further 
introduction  of  Japanese  laborers  into  the  country. 
Roosevelt  also  used  his  influence  with  the  governor 
and  legislature  of  the  state  to  prevent  the  passage 
of  anti-Japanese  legislation.  The  sensational  press 
greatly  increased  the  tension  by  insisting  that 
the  two  nations  were  on  the  verge  of  war.  Ulti 
mately  the  trouble  was  settled  amicably,  but  in 
December,  1907,  the  president  judged  it  expedient 
to  send  the  most  powerful  fleet  ever  gathered 
under  the  American  flag  on  a  cruise  around  the 
world.  As  the  fleet  first  proceeded  to  Pacific 
waters  and  touched  at  Japanese  ports,  most 
people  believed  that  the  demonstration  was 
intended  as  a  warning  to  Japan  and  other  powers 
that  America  was  ready. 

President  Roosevelt  naturally  desired  to  be 
succeeded  by  a  man  who  would  carry  out  his 
policies.  The  pressure  upon  him  to  stand  for  a 
re-election  proved  tremendous,  but  he  resolutely 
withstood  it  and  lent  his  support  to  the  candidacy 
of  William  H.  Taft.  As  governor  of  the  Philip 
pines  and  secretary  of  war,  Taft  had  made  an 
enviable  record  for  himself  as  a  subordinate,  and 
many  believed  that  he  would  do  well  in  a  position 
where  he  could  make  policies  as  well  as  carry 
them  out.  There  existed  no  great  enthusiasm 


234    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

for  Taft  personally,  but  his  candidacy  was  fur 
thered  by  the  use  of  large  sums  of  money  fur 
nished  by  his  family  and  by  the  political  influence 
of  the  administration.  The  latter  was  undoubt 
edly  the  determining  factor,  for  the  progressive 
elements  of  the  party  generally  supported  Taft 
merely  upon  Roosevelt's  recommendation.  An 
anecdote  of  the  times  hits  off  well  the  actual  facts 
in  the  case.  It  represented  a  graduate  of  Yale, 
Taft's  alma  mater,  talking  to  a  graduate  of  Har 
vard,  the  institution  at  which  Roosevelt  was  edu 
cated.  Said  the  Yale  man:  "This  is  a  Yale  year. 
We've  got  the  president."  "Yes,"  retorted  the 
Harvard  man,  "but  he  had  splendid  Harvard 
interference." 

The  Democrats,  meeting  at  Denver,  renomi- 
nated  Bryan  for  the  third  time,  with  John  W. 
Kern  of  Indiana  for  the  vice-presidency.  Roosevelt 
had  stolen  so  much  "Democratic  thunder"  that 
there  was  little  conflict  of  principles  between  the 
two  parties,  and  the  campaign  proved  a  listless 
one.  In  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  the  most 
important  feature  of  the  campaign  was  the  pledge 
of  the  Republican  platform  to  revise  the  tariff. 
In  several  speeches  Taft  explained  that  this 
meant  revision  downward.  The  election  resulted 
in  a  Republican  victory.  Taft  received  321  elec 
toral  votes,  Bryan  only  162. 

Upon  his  retirement  from  the  presidency 
Roosevelt  departed  for  a  hunting  trip  into  the 
wilds  of  East  Africa,  and  for  once  it  was  the  set 
ting,  not  the  rising,  sun  that  received  most  popular 
attention.  As  president,  Roosevelt  had  accom 
plished  a  great  deal  of  constructive  work,  but 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    235 

undoubtedly  his  main  achievement  was  that  of 
rousing  the  American  people  to  the  problems 
of  the  day.  For  the  fruition  of  his  labors  much 
depended  upon  his  successor. 

Prftfli/font.  Tall!^  administration  quickly  proved 
disappointing  to  those  persons  who  had  been 
most  ardent  in  securing  his  nomination  and 
election.  Soon  after  his  inauguration,  in  com 
pliance  with  a  campaign  pledge,  he  called  a 
special  session  of  congress  to  revise  the  tariff. 
The  announcement  roused  great  expectations 
among  reformers.  Under  Roosevelt  railway  re 
bates,  one  of  the  two  chief  props  to  trusts  and 
monopolies,  had  been  removed;  and  it  now  was 
hoped  that  the  other  prop,  the  protective  tariff, 
would  at  least  be  weakened.  But  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  the  protected  interests  sent  swarms  of 
agents  to  Washington  to  urge  high  duties,  while 
few  persons  presented  themselves  to  speak  for  the 
consumer.  A  decided  rift  quickly  appeared  in  the 
Republican  ranks.  The  "Progressives"  or  "In 
surgents,"  for  the  most  part  followers  of  Roose 
velt,  advocated  genuine  tariff  revision,  among 
their  leaders  being  Senators  La  Follette  of  Wis 
consin,  Cummins  of  Iowa,  Beveridge  of  Indiana, 
Bourne  of  Oregon,  and  Bristow  of  Kansas,  and 
Representatives  Norris  of  Nebraska,  Murdock 
of  Kansas,  and  Hayes  of  California.  The  Pro 
gressives  had  strong  popular  support  and  ex 
pected  aid  from  Taft,  but  he,  instead  of  swinging 
his  predecessor's  "Big  Stick,"  seemed,  in  the 
main,  to  hold  with  the  "Stand-pat"  machine, 
headed  by  Senator  Aldrich  and  Speaker  Cannon. 
The  result  was  that  the  Payne-Aldrich  Bill,  as 


236    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

finally  passed  by  congress  and  signed  by  the 
president,  lowered  duties  so  little  that  thousands 
of  Republicans  were  unable  to  accept  the  meas 
ure  as  an  honest  redemption  of  the  party's  pledge. 
In  some  cases  duties  were  openly  increased,  while 
in  others  seeming  reductions  were  nullified  by  re- 
classifications  and  other  underhand  devices.  A 
praiseworthy  feature  of  the  act  was  that  it  con 
siderably  lowered  the  tariff  rates  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Philippines.  Taft  ad 
mitted  that  the  wool  schedule  was  indefensible, 
but  defended  the  bill  as  a  whole  as  the  best 
tariff  ever  enacted.  He  had  few  followers  except 
among  the  protected  interests. 

A  scandal  in  ,the  department  of  the  interior 
/  served  to  widen  the  rift  in  the  party.  At  the 
head  of  that  department  the  president  had  placed 
Richard  Achilles  Ballinger,  a  Seattle  lawyer 
whose  sympathies  witlfRoosevelt's  conservation 
policy  appear  to  have  been  conspicuous  by  their 
absence.  Ballinger  restored  to  entry  large  tracts 
of  land  containing  valuable  power  sites,  and  dis 
missed  from  the  service  three  officers  who  op 
posed  his  course  concerning  certain  questionable 
Alaskan  coal  claims,  for  the  owners  of  which  he 
had  once  acted  as  attorney.  Among  Ballinger's 
critics  were  ex-Secretary  of  the  Interior  Garfield 
and  Gifford  Pinchot.  Pinchot  was  a  gentleman 
of  large  wealth  who  had  studied  forestry  abroad 
and  introduced  the  first  systematic  work  of  the 
kind  ever  attempted  in  the  United  States.  In 
1898  he  became  chief  of  the  forest  service  (then 
the  division  of  forestry)  and  by  disinterested  and 
efficient  work  won  a  high  place  in  the  public 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    237 

confidence.  Both  he  and  Garfield  were  close 
friends  of  ex-President  Roosevelt.  Public  sym 
pathy  was  generally  with  Pinchot  in  the  contro 
versy,  yet  Taft  dismissed  him  from  the  service 
and  insisted  upon  retaining  Ballinger.  A  major 
ity  of  a  congressional  investigating  committee 
brought  in  a  report  "whitewashing"  Ballinger, 
but  many  uncomfortable  facts  concerning  the 
affair  and  Ballinger's  previous  career  were  brought 
to  light;  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  continued 
so  strong  that  at  last  Ballinger  resigned.  By 
his  course  in  the  matter  Taft  alienated  many 
supporters,  yet  he  remained  a  friend  to  conserva 
tion.  To  the  vacancies  created  by  the  retirement 
of  Pinchot  and  Ballinger  he  appointed  men  who 
were  enthusiastic  conservationists.  He  also  se 
cured  legislation  to  safeguard  the  movement,  and 
withdrew  from  entry  many  million  acres  of  water 
power  sites,  and  coal,  phosphate,  and  petroleum 
lands.  By  December,  1910,  the  existing  with 
drawals  totaled  91,000,000  acres. 

The  new  tariff  act  and  the  Ballinger  scandal 
provoked  a  great  outcry.  There  also  existed  much 
dissatisfaction  with  the  conduct  of  affairs  in  the 
house  of  representatives,  where  a  knot  of  con 
servatives,  headed  by  Speaker  Joseph  G.  Cannon, 
had  long  ruled  with  a  high  hand.  Cannon  was 
a  picturesque  representative  from  the  Danville 
district  of  Illinois,  much  given  to  the  use  of  pro 
fanity  and  fine  cut  tobacco.  He  had  at  one  time 
been  highly  popular  and  had  won  the  nickname 
of  "Uncle  Joe,"  but  the  people  had  come  to  be 
lieve  that  he  represented  extremely  conservative, 
if  not  predatory,  interests.  A  somewhat  similar 


RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

state  of  affairs  obtained  in  the  senate,  where  the 
chief  power  was  Senator  Nelson  W.  Aldrich  of 
Rhode  Island.  Aldrich  had  long  been  regarded 
as  a  rank  conservative,  and  popular  confidence 
in  him  was  not  increased  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  father-in-law  of  the  son  of  John  D.  Rocke 
feller.  In  the  sixty-first  congress.  Progressive  or 
Insurgent  representatives  and  senators  fought 
to  overturn  the  Stand-pat  oligarchies.  President 
Taft  lent  his  support  to  the  Stand-patters,  and 
in  the  interest  of  party  solidarity  even  wielded 
the  patronage  club  against  the  Progressives. 
Nevertheless,  in  March,  1910.  the  Progressive 
representatives,  aided  by  the  Democrats,  wrested 
control  from  the  speaker  and  circumscribed 
his  authority.  Progressive  senators  also  suc 
ceeded  in  weakening  the  power  of  the  senate 


Popular  discontent  with  the  party  in  power 
was  strongly  reflected  in  the  elections  of  1910. 
The  Democrats  carried  Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
other  states  that  in  recent  years  had  ordinarily 
been  Republican  and  won  a  large  majority  in 
the  house  of  representatives.  The  election  and 
the  nominating  conventions  and  primaries  that 
preceded  it  retired  many  Stand-pat  Republicans 
to  private  life,  but,  in  general,  the  Insurgents 
were  strikingly  successful.  The  election  was 
interpreted  as  a  signal  rebuke  to  the  administration 
and  the  reactionary  forces  that  had  controlled 
congress.  Ex-President  Roosevelt  participated 
in  the  campaign,  but  he  sedulously  refrained 
from  indorsing  the  administration,  and  usually 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    239 

confined  his  efforts  to  supporting  Insurgent 
candidates.  Even  his  great  popularity  proved 
unequal  to  saving  New  York  to  the  Republicans. 
A  significant  feature  of  the  election  was  the  enor 
mous  Socialist  vote.  For  the  first  time  a  Social 
ist,  Victor  L.  Berger  of  Milwaukee,  won  a  seat 
in  congress.  Undoubtedly,  however,  the  party 
was  not  yet  so  strong  as  it  seemed.  The  Socialist 
mayor  of  a  Western  town  well  characterized  the 
true  situation  when  he  said  that  twenty  per  cent 
of  the  vote  he  received  was  Socialistic  and  eighty 
per  cent  protest. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  not  lost  upon 
President  Taft.  The  Payne-Aldrich  Act  had 
created  a  tariff  board  to  assistThe  president  in 
applying  certain  maximum  and  minimum  pro 
visions  of  the  act.  Taft  obtained  further  appro 
priations  for  this  board  and  set  it  to  work  collecting 
information  against  a  future  attempt  to  revise 
the  tariff.  He  also  carried  through  negotiations 
for  a  reciprocity  agreement  with  Canada.  The 
agreement  was  bitterly  opposed  by  a  portion  of 
the  farming  interest,  for  farmers  believed  that 
it  took  from  them  most  of  their  effective  protection 
without  relieving  them  from  the  high  duties  on 
goods  which  they  consumed.  Manufacturers  also 
inclined  to  oppose  it  because  they  feared  it  would 
prove  an  entering  wedge  for  further  tariff  changes. 
The  sixty -first  congress  expired  before  the  senate 
took  any  action  upon  the  agreement,  and  Taft 
called  a  special  session  of  the  new  congress  to  con 
sider  it.  Largely  through  the  aid  of  Democratic 
votes  he  managed  to  obtain  his  wish.  When  the 
Democrats  and  Progressive  Republicans  united, 


*40    RECONSTRUCTION  AND   UNION 

however,  to  pass  a  farmers'  free  list  bill  and  a  bill 
lowering  the  excessive  duties  on  wool  and  woolen 
goods,  the  president  vetoed  both  measures. 
Canada  later  unexpectedly  rejected  the  reci 
procity  agreement.  The  mountain  had  labored 
without  bringing  forth  even  a  mouse. 

The  early  weeks  of  19H  found  political  condi 
tions  more  chaotic  than  for  many  years.  Through 
out  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  West,  the 
people  were  striving  to  secure  a  more  effective  con 
trol  over  public  affairs  by  adopting  such  devices  93 
primary  elections,  the  initiative  and  referendum, 
and  the  recall  of  unsatisfactory  officers.  In  both 
the  old  parties  there  existed  a  progressive  and  a 
reactionary  wing,  and  it  was  questionable  whether 
mere  names  could  much  longer  hold  together 
things  which  were  unlike.  In  congress  Progressive 
Republicans  openly  acted  with  the  Democrats  on 
such  matters  as  tariff  legislation,  while  conserva 
tive  Democrats  secretly  aided  the  Stand-pat  Re 
publicans.  President  Taft  had  failed  to  retain 
the  confidence  of  a  large  section  of  his  party, 
Senator  La  Follette  early  began  a  campaign  for 
the  Republican  nomination,  and  there  arose  a 
widespread  demand  for  the  return  of  Roosevelt. 
In  February*,  in  reply  to  a  joint  appeal  from  seven 
Republican  governors,  the  ex-president  indicated 
that  be  would  accept  a  renomination.  Among  the 
Democrats  the  leading  candidates  seemed  to  be 
Governor  Woodrow  Wilson  of  New  Jersey,  Gov 
ernor  Judson  Harmon  of  Ohio,  and  Speaker 
Champ  Clark  of  Missouri;  but  the  outcome  was 
doubtful,  with  the  nomination  of  some  %<  favorite 
son*'  or  "dark  horse"  not  improbable. 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    241 

The  results  of  the  census  of  1910  served  to 
emphasize  the  fact  that  the  United  States  of 
to-day  Ls  not  the  United  States  of  1865.  Its  total 
area  has  increased  over  700,000  square  miles,  and 
its  population  of  101,100,000,  including  Alaska 
and  the  insular  possessions,  is  almost  treble  the 
number  who  welcomed  the  peace  that  closed  the 
great  civil  conflict.  Vast  areas  in  the  West  which 
were  then  without  a  single  white  inhabitant  have 
since  been  won  from  the  Indians  and  from  the 
desert  for  civilized  settlement.  The  population 
in  1870  of  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
excluding  the  older  states  of  Texas,  Iowa,  Mis 
souri,  and  Arkansas,  and  parts  of  Minnesota  and 
Louisiana,  was  only  a  million  and  a  half;  to-day 
it  is  upwards  of  thirteen  millions. 

Throughout  the  period  a  decided  drift  to  the 
cities  took  place.  The  percentage  of  urban  dwell 
ers  in  1870  was  only  20.9;  it  had  increased  to  46.3 
in  1910.  During  the  last  decade  many  rural 
districts  actually  decreased  in  population.  The 
desire  to  live  in  cities,  however,  was  diminishing. 
Better  roads,  rural  mail  delivery,  the  telephone, 
and  other  factors  rendered  country  life  more 
attractive.  A  growing  desire  for  a  simpler  and 
more  open-air  existence,  a  realization  of  the  truth 
of  the  old  adage  that  "God  made  the  country 
and  man  the  town"  caused  many  people  to  heed 
the  slogan  "Back  to  the  farm!" 

Statistics  show  that  the  very  blood  of  the  nation 
is  changing.  Irish,  Germans,  and  English  formed 
most  of  the  tide  which  flowed  through  Castle 
Garden  in  the  ante-bellum  period.  People  of 
these  races  continued  to  come,  but  in  the  '70s 


242    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

and  '80s  emigrants  from  other  nations  began  to 
set  their  faces  westward  in  large  numbers.  Nor 
wegians,  Swedes,  and  Danes  made  up  a  large 
part  of  the  swarm  that  settled  the  Dakotas  and 
other  Northwestern  states.  Later  more  southerly 
peoples — Russian  Jews,  Poles,  Hungarians,  Ital 
ians,  Greeks,  and  Syrians — flocked  in,  and  too 
often  added  to  the  congestion  of  population  in 
metropolitan  centers.  During  the  decade  1900-10 
the  number  of  immigrants  from  the  polyglot 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire  increased  1,021,732;  of 
Italians,  857,837;  of  Rwtmnff  (mostly  Jews,  Finns, 
and  Poles),  999,228;  of  Greeks,  from  8,513  to 
101,100.  During  the  same  period  the  number 
of  Irish  decreased  808,892,  and  of  Germans, 
814,213.  New  York  City  is  perhaps  the  most 
cosmopolitan  city  in  the  world.  It  contains  more 
Jews  than  ever  lived  in  Jerusalem  except  during 
the  feast  of  the  Passover,  more  persons  of  German 
extraction  than  reside  in  any  German  city  except 
Berlin,  more  people  of  Irish  blood  than  inhabit 
Dublin.  About  two-thirds  of  its  inhabitants  are 
of  foreign  parentage.  A  similar  situation  on  a 
smaller  scale  obtains  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere. 

In  prosperous  times  the  horde  wliich  in  a  single 
year  enters  New  York  harbor  exceeds  the  total 
number  of  the  West  Gothic  nation  which  in  878 
began  the  Barbarian  migrations  into  the  Roman 
Empire.  The  influx  is  so  prodigious  that  some 
thinkers  fear  that  just  as  Rome  fell  because  there 
craned  to  be  any  real  Romans,  so  America  will  fall 
because  there  will  cease  to  be  any  true  Americans. 
Most  of  the  immigrants  are  poor,  most  are  ignorant, 
many  come  from  nations  having  widely  different 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    248 

social  and  political  customs,  and  to  fuse  them  all 
into  Americans  has  tested  even  the  capacity  of  the 
greatest  "melting  pot"  the  world  has  known. 

Undoubtedly  the  salvation  of  the  country 
from  the  deluge  has  been  its  system  of  pul>lic 
schools,  the  development  of  which  is  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  age,  equaling  the  wonderful  story 
of  steam  and  electricity.  Higher  education  has 
also  progressed  rapidly,  and  there  are  more 
college  graduates  to-day  than  there  were  high- 

srh.M.l  v_Ta«liiati-N    in    lsi;.V      l;ifty    yrars   ago    iii.--t 

colleges  and  universities  were  little  more  than 
academies;  graduate  work  was  not  even  at 
tempted.  There  are  now  dozens  of  well-equipped 
institutions  that  bestow  the  higher  degrees.  In 
fact,  there  seems  almost  to  be  danger  of  over 
doing  such  work,  and  a  witty  Harvard  professor 
remarked  not  long  ago  that  there  will  come  a 
time  in  tin-  ('nit*.!  Stairs  wlirn  thrrr  will  IN-  a 
new  order  of  mendicant  monks,  and  tlu*ir  namr 
shall  be  Doctors  of  Philosophy! 

Printing  and  publishing  have  kept  pace  with 
education.  The  voice  of  the  printing  press  M 
never  stilled.  A  mere  list  of  the  periodicals  pub 
lished  in  the  United  States,  with  a  few  facts 
concerning  the  management,  circulation,  etc.  of 
each,  fills  a  great  book  of  982  pagBl.  The  develop 
ment  of  the  magazine  has  been  esjxvially  rapid. 
One  volume  of  1,444  pagrs  Mffieed  for  the  titles 
of  articles  and  stories  puMMird  down  to  lss-j; 
the  years  1905-09  alone  required  one  of  2,491 
pages.1  Books,  too,  fall  from  the  press  like 

1  Titles  in  English  — ^f  1       arr  included  in 
but  the  greatest  development  has  been  in  America. 


244    RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION 

autumn  leaves,  yet  it  must  be  said  that,  in  general, 
Americans  read  ephemeral  newspapers  and  maga 
zines  rather  than  books.  Many  persons  who 
habitually  devour  two  or  more  newspapers  daily 
will  not  read  one  book  a  year.  And  of  the  books 
in  demand  at  the  libraries  a  large  proportion  are 
works  of  fiction. 

Notwithstanding  progress  in  education  and 
the  increase  in  publishing  and  in  the  rewards 
given  authors,  creative  literature  seems  to  have 
retrograded  rather  than  advanced.  There  are 
no  poets  in  1912  who  could  be  matched  with 
Whittier,  Longfellow,  Lowell,  or  even  Holmes, 
and  no  novelist  who  compares  with  Hawthorne, 
who  died  in  the  last  year  of  the  war.  In  the  field 
of  history,  however,  such  writers  as  Rhodes  and 
McMaster  worthily  uphold  standards  created  by 
Parkman,  Bancroft,  and  Motley. 

In  general  culture  and  in  appreciation  of  music, 
painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture  the  Ameri 
cans  of  to-day  have  advanced  far  beyond  their 
fathers.  It  is  a  promising  sign  that  some  workers 
in  all  of  these  lines  have  ceased  to  be  mere  imi 
tators  and  have  done  creative  work  that  is  dis 
tinctly  American.  In  theoretical  science  Ameri 
cans  lag  behind  their  brethren  abroad,  but  in 
the  field  of  applied  science  they  are  unsurpassed. 
The  names  of  the  Wright  brothers,  conquerors 
of  the  air,  will  undoubtedly  fill  as  honorable  a 
place  in  history  as  those  of  Fulton,  Stephenson, 
and  Watt. 

With  a  total  wealth  of  upwards  of  one  hundred 
billions,  the  United  States  is  to-day  the  richest 
of  all  nations;  and,  with  the  single  exception  of 


REVOLT  AGAINST  PLUTOCRACY    245 

Russia,  it  is  the  most  populous  of  civilized  nations. 
Every  year  the  shadow  of  its  future  looms  larger 
across  the  world,  and  the  measure  of  its  possible 
achievement  seems  well-nigh  boundless.  Yet 
mighty  as  may  be  the  victories  of  the  future  all 
that  it  holds  in  store  cannot  be  good.  Day  by 
day  our  civilization  drifts  further  from  the  old 
simplicity  of  an  agricultural  age,  and  its  problems 
grow  more  complex.  Day  by  day,  as  the  land 
fills  with  inhabitants,  as  the  soil  decreases  in 
fertility,  as  the  mines  lose  their  pristine  richness, 
the  struggle  for  existence  must  more  and  more 
approximate  that  bitter,  grinding  struggle  that 
now  obtains  in  Europe.  In  politics  grave  problems 
must  be  solved  if  the  nation  is  to  be  one  of  "  equal 
rights  for  all,  special  privileges  for  none."  Signs 
are  not  wanting  that  the  very  framework  of 
government  is  outgrown  and  that  the  constitu 
tion  must  be  modified  to  meet  the  conditions  of 
the  new  age.  The  future  js^bright,  but  it  is  full 
of  labor.  Let  no  man  repineTrTthe~footish  befigf 
that  all  things  worth  doing  have  been  done.  Of 
what  tremendous  struggles  may  not  this"  land 
be  the  arena  in  ages  yet  far  distant!  America  is 
still  in  the  process  of  finding  herself,  and  democracy 
is  still  on  trial. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

OF  general  works  on  recent  American  history  the  most 
complete  is  The  American  Nation,  a  History  (27  vols.,  1903- 
1907),  a  co-operative  work  edited  by  Albert  B.  Hart.  The 
volumes  dealing  with  the  United  States  since  1865  are  William 
A.  Dunning's  Reconstruction,  Political  and  Economic;  Edwin 
E.  Sparks's  National  Development;  Davis  R.  Dewey's  National 
Problems;  and  John  H.  Latan6's  America  as  a  World  Power. 
E.  Benjamin  Andrews's  The  United  States  in  Our  Oum  Times 
(1903)  covers  the  period  from  1870  to  the  date  of  publication 
and  is  popular  in  character.  Harry  Thurston  Peck's  Twenty 
Years  of  the  Republic  (1905)  treats  the  period  from  1885  to 
1905  and  is  well  written  and  entertaining. 

Of  books  dealing  with  Reconstruction,  James  G.  Blame's 
Twenty  Years  of  Congress  (2  vols.,  1884-86)  is  written  by  a 
Republican  statesman  and  is  not  always  accurate  as  to  details. 
A  Democratic  view  is  given  in  S.  S.  Cox's  Three  Decades  of 
Federal  Legislation  (1885).  John  W.  Burgess's  Reconstruction 
and  the  Constitution  (1902)  treats  the  subject  from  the  legal 
point  of  view  and  is  somewhat  dogmatic  in  conclusions. 
Walter  L.  Fleming's  Documentary  History  of  Reconstruction 
(2  vols.,  1906-07)  contains  much  illuminating  material.  Walter 
L.  Fleming's  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  in  Alabama  (1905) 
is  excellent  for  the  single  state  with  which  it  deals,  but  is 
marked  by  a  strong  Southern  bias.  James  WT.  Garner's 
Reconstruction  in  Mississippi  (1901)  deals  with  the  course 
of  affairs  in  Mississippi  and  is  rigidly  impartial.  J.  S.  Pike's 
The  Prostrate  State  (1874)  gives  a  vivid  view  of  negro  rule  in 
South  Carolina.  Paul  L.  Ha  worth's  The  Hayes-Tilden  Election 
(1906)  deals  exhaustively  with  the  disputed  election.  No 
249 


250  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

student  should  fail  to  consult  James  F.  Rhodes's  History 
of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850  (7  vols., 
1893-1906). 

On  the  race  problem  Ray  S.  Baker's  Following  the  Color  Line 
(1908)  is  a  careful  analysis  of  present-day  race  conditions. 
W.  E.  B.  Dubois's  The  Souls  of  Black  Folks  (1903)  is  the  work 
of  a  Harvard  Ph.D.,  a  mulatto  brought  up  in  New  England, 
but  at  present  a  professor  in  Atlanta  University.  Booker  T. 
Washington's  Up  from  Slavery  (1901)  is  the  autobiography 
of  the  noted  negro  leader  and  educator.  G.  S.  Merriam's 
The  Negro  and  the  Nation  (1906)  contains  a  Northerner's 
view  of  the  race  problem.  Thomas  N.  Page's  The  Negro, 
the  Southerner's  Problem  (1904)  is  a  book  by  a  well-known 
Southern  novelist. 

The  best  analysis  of  American  political  conditions  is  given 
in  James  Bryce's  The  American  Commonwealth  (2  vols.,  many 
editions).  Another  book  of  great  merit  is  Moisei  Ostrogorski's 
Democracy  and  the  Organization  of  Political  Parties  (2  vols., 
1902).  James  A.  Woodburn's  Political  Parties  and  Party 
Problems  in  the  United  States  (1903)  is  an  excellent  book  in 
more  compact  form  than  Bryce's  work. 

The  most  exhaustive  history  of  the  War  with  Spain  is  F.  E. 
Chad  wick's  The  Spanish-American  War  (2  vols.,  1911).  For 
the  naval  and  administrative  side  of  the  conflict  see  John  D. 
Long's  The  New  American  Navy  (2  vols.,  1903).  Extremely 
interesting  is  Theodore  Roosevelt's  The  Rough  Riders  (1899). 

The  books  on  economic  and  social  conditions  are  almost 
numberless.  E.  W.  Bemis's  Municipal  Monopolies  (1899)  is 
the  work  of  an  advocate  of  municipal  ownership  of  public 
utilities.  The  tariff  struggle  is  treated  in  Frank  W.  Taussig's 
Tariff  History  of  the  United  States  (1910).  ^W._  F.  Johnson's 
Four  Centuries  of  the  Panama  Canal  (1906)  is  sufficiently~de- 
scribed  by  its  title.  One  of  the  earliest  books  dealing  with 
plutocratic  tendencies  is  Henry  Lloyd's  Wealth  against  Com 
monwealth  (1894).  The  trust  problem  is  discussed  hi  Ida 
Tarbell's  History  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  (2  vols.,  1904); 
Gilbert  H.  Montague's  Trusts  of  To-day  (1904);  and  J.  W. 
Jenks's  The  Trust  Problem  (1903).  John  Mitchell's  Organ- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  251 

ized  Labor  (1903)  was  written  by  one  of  the  sanest  of  the 
labor  leaders. 

Of  biographies  and  reminiscences  George  E.  Hoar's  Auto 
biography  of  Seventy  Years  (2  vols.,  1903)  is  the  work  of  one 
who  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  many  public  occurrences. 
Somewhat  similar  in  character  are  George  S.  BoutwelTs 
Reminiscences  of  Sixty  Years  in  Public  Affairs  (2  vols.,  1902) 
and  John  Sherman's  Recollections  (2  vols.,  1885).  John 
Bigelow's  Life  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  (2  vols.,  1895)  is  particu 
larly  valuable  for  New  York  state  politics  and  the  disputed 
presidential  election.  Albert  B.  Paine's  Thomas  Nast,  His 
Period  and  His  Picturest  is  profusely  illustrated  with  some  of 
the  great  cartoonist's  most  famous  pictures.  Francis  E. 
Leupp's  The  Man  Roosevelt  (1904)  is  a  brilliant  character 
sketch,  but  not  a  formal  biography. 


INDEX 


Adams,  60,  65 
Aguinaldo,  188-189 
"Alabama  Claims,"  60-63 
Alaska,  38,  219 
Aldrich,  238 
Alger,  185 
Altgeld,  130,  160 


"Cipher  Dispatches,"  90-91,  104 
Civil  Rights  Bill,  25,  2£,  84 
-^-v Civil  Service  Reform,   109,   121- 

123,  136-137,  173-174,  211 
Clark,  240 
Clarkson,  136-137 
Clayton-Bulwer  Convention,  220 


American   Federation   of   Labor,      Cleveland,  59,  110,  116-135/142- 


131 
Ames,  68 

Arm-in-Arm  Convention,  28 
Arthur,  87,  104,  108-114 
Australian  ballot,  133 

Ballinger,  236-237 

Babcock,  70-72 

Beef  Trust,  145,  216 

Belknap,  71 

Berger,  239 

Beveridge,  235 

Bismark,  139 

"Black  Friday,"  64 

Black  Codes,  16-18 

Elaine,  73,  102,  106,  110,  114-119, 

132,  137-141,  146,  147,  150 
Bland, 169 

Bland-Allison  Act,  93-94,  166 
Bradley,  79 
Bristow,  70,  72 
Bryan,    170-173,    205-207,    225, 

234 

Bunau-Varilla,  222 
Burchard,  118 
Butler,  33,  63 

Campos,  176 

Canadian  Reciprocity,  239 

Cannon,  237 

Cervera,  180,  184 

Chaff  ee,  193 

Chamberlain,  53 

Chandler,  W.  E.,  88 

Chandler,  Z.,  88 

Chase,  37 

Chinese  Exclusion,  101 

Chili,  140-141 


143,  151-174,  177 
Colfax,  69 

Conkling,  63,  87,  101-107 
Cortelyou,  226 
Coxey's  "Army,"  159 
Credit  Mobilier,  60,  68  ,  , 
Cxolgoez,  208 

Davis,  D.,  64,  79 

Davis,  H.  G.,  225 

Davis,  J.,  14,  55,  82 

Debs,  160-161 

Do  Lome,  178 

De  Long,  113 

Dewey,  179 

Dingley  Act,  197-200,  206,  217 

Douglass,  9 

Dudley,  133 

Eaton,  109 

Electoral  Commission,  78-79 

Elkins  Act,  218 

Evarts,  34,  86 

Fairbanks,  224 

Farmers'  Alliance,  148 

Fifteenth  Amendment,  42,  83 

Fish,  58,  61,  175 

"Force  Bill,"  143,  148 

Foster,  142 

Fourteenth  Amendment,  25,  26, 

41,  84 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  10,  24,  26 
Funston,  189 

Garfield,  J.  A.,  69,  103-108 
Garfield,  J.  R.,  236J 
Goethals,  223 


253 


254 


INDEX 


1  Gold  Democrats,  170,  206 
Gorman,  151,  158 
Gould,  63,  118,  126 
"Government     by     Injunction," 

161 

Grady,  8,  112 
"Grandfather  Clause,"  83 
Granger  Cases,  96 
Grangers,  95,  148 
Grant,  23,  33,  35,  36,  38,  54,  56- 

71,  101-103,  175 

Great  Reconstruction  Act,  32,  40 
Greeley,  64-67 
Greely,  114 

Greenbackers,  37,  105,  148 
Guiteau,  107 

"Half-Breeds,"  107 

Hanna,    115,    166-168,    196-197, 

208,  224 
Harmon,  240 
Harrison,  132-153 
Hawaii,  141-143 
Hay,  193,  220 
Hayes,  L.,  87 

Hayes,  R.  B.,  73-80,  86-101,  104 
Hendricks,  37,  74,  117,  118,  123 
Hill,  134,  151 
Hoar,  E.  R.,  58 
Hoar,  G.  E.,  104,  115 
Hobart,  168 
Hobson,  181 

"Insular  Cases,"  192 
" Insurgents,"  see  "Progressives " 
Interstate   Commerce  Act,   124- 
127,  230 

"Jelly-fish,"  107 

"Jim-Crow  Cars,"  84 

Johnson,  A.,  12,  13,  14,  20,  23,  25 
27,  28,  30-38,  39 

Johnson,  R.,  60 

Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruc 
tion,  20,  21,  25 

"  Kearneyism,"  99 

Kellogg,  49 

Kern,  234 

Knights  of  Labor,  96,  130 

Ku-Klux-Klan,  43,  45,  47,  52,  54 

Ku-Klux  Act,  54 

La  Follette,  235,  240 
Landis,  229 
Lee,  F.,  177 


Lee,  R.  E.,  7 

Liberal  Republicans,  64-66,  74 

Liliuokalani,  142 

Lincoln,  A.,  7,  11,  12 

Logan,  33,  101,  115 

"Maine,"  178 

Malietoa,  138-139 

Maximilian,  39 

McKinley  Act,  144-148,  153-154, 

166 
McKinley,    114,    146,    148,    155, 

157,     166-172,     174,     177-178, 

185,  196,  199,  205-210 
McMaster,  244 
Mills  Bill,  132 
"Molly  Maguires,"  97 
Morgan,  162,  202 
Morton,  O.  P.,  31,  72 
Morton,  L.  P.,  132 

Napoleon  III.,  38 
"Naturalization  Clause,"  83 
New  Orleans  Riot,  28-29,  46 
"New  South,"  111 
Norris,  235 

Northern    Securities    Company,' 
216 

Oklahoma,  150 
"Open  Door,"  193 
"Oregon,"  180,  183 

Pacific  Railroad,  59 

Palma,  187,  232 

Panama  Canal,  219-223 

Panama  Republic,  221-223 

Parker,  225-226 

Pauncefote,  220 

Payne-Aldrich  Act,  235-239 

Peary,  114 

Pelton,  90 

Pendleton,  37,  109 

People's  Party,  see  Populists 

Philippines,    184,    187-193,    206, 

230,  236 

Pinchot,  236-237 
Platt,  107,  205 

"Platt  Amendment,"  187,  232 
Populists,  148-149,  152,  170,  206 
Porto  Rico,  184,  187,  192,  199 
Potter  Committee,  89-91 
"Progressive,"  235-240 
Pullman  Strike,  160 

Quay,  137,  150 


INDEX 


255 


"Rebel  Flag  Order,"  129 
"Reconcentrados,"  176 
Reed,  T.  B.,  143,  165,  197 
Reed,  W.,  186 
Reid,  64,  151 
Resumption  Act,  70,  92 
Rhodes,  81,  244 
Robertson,  103,  106 
Rockefeller,  J.  D.,  125,  238 
Roosevelt,    110,    115,    135,    173, 

181-185,    195,   203,   205,   210- 

234,  238,  240 
Root,  185 
Rough  Riders,  181-183 

Sack  ville- West,  134 

Samoa,  138-139 

Sampson,  180,  183 

Santo  Domingo,  60,  63,  219 

Schley,  113,  180,  184 

Schurz,  22,  23,  64,  74,  86,   115, 

206 

Schwatka,  113 
Seymour,  37,  38 
Sheridan,  29,  39 
Sherman,  W.  T.,  7-8.  114 
Sherman,  J.,  70-71,  92,  102,  112, 

114,  197 
Sherman    Anti-Trust    Act,    144- 

146,  202,  227 

Sherman  Silver  Act,  144,  155,  156 
South    Improvement    Company, 

126 

"Stalwarts,"  88,  107 
Standard  Oil  Company,  125-127, 

145,  229 

"Stand-Patters,"  235-240 
Stanton,  33-35 
Star  Route  Frauds,  110 
Stephens,  18 


Stevens,  20,  21,  22,  25,  29,  33,  35, 

81 

Stevenson,  122,  151,  205 
Stewart,  57 
Sugar  Trust,  145 
Sumner,  21,  25,  31,  61,  81,  121, 

129 

Taft,  190,  191,  201,  224,  232-240 
Tammany  Hall,  74,  104,  118,  134 
Teller,  168 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  31^-34,  58- 

59,  123 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  16,  25, 

26 

Tildon,  74-77,  88-91,  104 
Tobacco  Trust,  201,  229 
Treaty  of  Washington,  62 

"Understanding  Clause,"  83 
Union  League,  42 
U.  8.  Steel  Corporation,  202-204, 
229 

Vanderbilt,  C.,  95 
Vanderbilt,  W.  H.,  126 
Venezuela,  163-165,  219 
"Virginius,"  175 

Washburne,  57-58 
Washington,  B.,  212 
Weaver,  105,  152 
Weyler.  176^177 
White  Camelm,  43,  46 
White  League,  49 
Wilson,  H.,  69.  78 
Wilson,  W.,  240 
Wilson-Gorman  Act,  157-159 
Wood,  182,  187 
Woodford,  177 


14  DAY  USE 

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